Queensland gets high pandemic pay, commits less stimulus

590,000 more Australians got a government COVID-19 stimulus payment in June, with paying household bills the No. 1 use of the funds.

Queensland great Wally Lewis’s statue outside Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane. Picture: AAP

Queensland has committed the least of the major east coast states to COVID-19 stimulus, despite having a materially higher effective jobless rate than NSW or Victoria.

New Australian Bureau of Statistics data also revealed that Queenslanders were at least as likely to have received special government pandemic-related payments as those living south of the border. Household survey data released by the ABS on Monday showed that 36 per cent of Queenslanders received pandemic-related stimulus payments in June — a similar proportion to NSW and above the 33 per cent of Victorians.

Nationally, the ABS report showed a further 590,000 Australians received a COVID-19 special payment in June, bringing the total number to nearly seven million.

This was equivalent to 35 per cent of the adult population, up from 32 per cent in May. A touch over 35 per cent of West Australians received a stimulus payment, and 39 per cent of South Australians. Tasmanians were most likely to have received support, at 40 per cent, with those in the ACT and Northern Territory the least likely, at 20 per cent.

Treasury data at the weekend showed the Sunshine State’s effective unemployment rate was 11.4 per cent in July, higher than the 10.5 per cent rate recorded in Victoria and well above NSW’s estimated 8.5 per cent, yet recent analysis by ANZ showed Queensland has committed only 5.3 per cent of state revenues over this and the last financial years to cushion the recession.