Premier pledges she will work ‘right up until Christmas’ to deliver budget if re-elected

Amid findings Queenslanders trust the incumbent Premier with the economy more than her opponent, Annastacia Palaszczuk has committed to deliver a budget this year.

Queensland’s Premier says she will work “right up until Christmas” to deliver a budget for the state, should she be returned to power on October 31.

Annastacia Palaszczuk begins the second day of the state election campaign trail in Mt Isa, north west Queensland. The seat of Traeger is the state’s safest seat, held by Robbie Katter of Katter’s Australian Party with a margin of 28.5 per cent.

In the lead up to the campaign, Ms Palaszczuk has been criticised by Opposition Leader Deb Frecklington for “not having a budget”, however Ms Palaszczuk has been quick to respond.

“You don’t get the figures until the federal budget comes out. Now that’s out, we can be certain about forward estimates,” she told ABC Radio on Wednesday morning.

“If we are re-elected, we will have the budget before the end of the year … We will work right up until Christmas if we have to.”

RELATED: Five minute guide to Federal Budget 2020

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk says she will work “right up until Christmas” to deliver a budget before the end of 2020. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Dan Peled

While Queensland’s budget is usually brought down in June, the federal and individual states and territory budgets were postponed due to COVID-19.

Last night Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg handed down the long-awaited 2020/21 budget, which will benefit Queensland to the tune of $13 billion over the next four years.

While waiting for federal figures, Queensland Treasurer Cameron Dick last month announced a fiscal and economic review, which detailed an $11 billion Unite and Recover Plan Ms Palaszczuk said was “fully costed and budgeted.”

The pledge comes as a new YouGov poll, carried out by the Courier Mail, reveals Queenslanders trust Ms Palaszczuk’s Labor Party over Ms Frecklington’s LNP to manage the state’s economic recovery and create jobs.

The Premier’s dominance on the topic of the economy extends to every region across the state, according to the poll, with 40 per cent of the 2000 respondents favouring Ms Palaszczuk, compared to 27 per cent for the LNP.

The Greater Brisbane area backs Labor at 43 per cent, whereas regional Queensland backs Ms Palaszczuk’s party at just 38 per cent.

Ms Palaszczuk told ABC radio on Wednesday she was thankful for the hard work of Queenslanders to manage the health crisis, which allowed the state to bounce back economically quickly.

“I have made some tough decisions, some have been unpopular, but they have kept Queenslanders safe,” she said.

“Only with a strong health response can we focus on economic recovery.”