No asset sales, no new taxes in Liberal National plan

Queensland’s Labor and Liberal National parties have abandoned hope of paying down the state’s ­record debt during the next term of government.

LNP Deputy Leader and Shadow Treasurer Tim Mander. Picture: Liam Kidston

Queensland’s Labor and Liberal National parties have abandoned hope of paying down the state’s ­record debt during the next term of government.

The long-awaited release of the LNP’s costings on Thursday confirmed the party would use part of Labor’s $4bn loan to pay for its election commitments, ensuring the state hits the forecast debt of at least $102bn by the middle of next year.

It outlined how an LNP government led by Deb Frecklington would pay for its election commitments through a combination of borrowings, slashing $750m in waste across departments, “better procurement” processes, and extending Labor’s replacement freeze for non-frontline workers.

The party’s costings, released after sustained attacks from Labor over supposed cuts for public service employees, show no cuts through forced redundancies or asset sales and no new taxes.

Treasurer Cameron Dick in September said Labor would borrow $4bn to stimulate the economy and LNP deputy leader Tim Mander said the LNP would spend $1.7m of the loan.

The fine print of the LNP’s costings revealed the party’s two key election infrastructure projects — the New Bradfield Scheme and duplication of the Bruce Highway — would be years away from construction, with immediate funding provided only for planning and studies.

Investment in Bruce Highway upgrades will increase by $240m a year from 2022-23, more than doubling the spend under Labor.

Mr Mander said it would give an LNP government time to “make sure we do the right planning to get this right”.

The delayed capital works funding for the big-ticket infrastructure items means the “$26bn” in LNP promises trumpeted by Labor throughout the campaign is actually $5.05bn.

Mr Mander, who committed to delivering a budget surplus within four years, said the efficiency dividends, similar to that proposed by Labor for Queensland Health, would be applied across all departments except Queensland Health and would generate about $200m in savings every year. A “better procurement” strategy would save $100m this financial year and $200m a year to 2024.

“An example of better procurement would be entering into a centralised supply agreement for electricity bills for the 20-plus government agencies,” he said.

“Having a single centralised supply agreement instead of more than 20 separate contracts would save agencies time and money.”

Extending Labor’s internal replacement block for non-frontline staff by six months would save $1.6bn over four years.

Under the LNP, the public service would rise by 7400 full-time workers to 240,000 by mid-2024.

Mr Mander said the LNP’s commitments would be delivered through “careful budget management”, not asset sales or forced redundancies. He described the savings measures as “modest and achievable” and “fiscally responsible and possible”.

“This is 2c out of every $1,” he said of savings that departments will be asked to find.

He accused Labor of running a “baseless scare campaign”.

Throughout the campaign, Mr Dick bemoaned the LNP’s perceived unwillingness to borrow to fund its promises, claiming the party was planning to cut jobs and services to pay for its promises and still record a budget surplus.

Mr Mander, who previously labelled the $4bn in borrowing a “slush fund”, accused the Treasurer of “verballing” him during the campaign by claiming the LNP had ruled out using the loan.

“What we have said is that the debt will be lower under the LNP and today we are proving that that is possible,” he said. “$2.3bn less in debt is a significant figure.”