No trickle-down from Queensland’s ‘rivers of gold’
Record coal prices and booming house sales haved help deliver the Queensland Treasurer an extra $18bn in revenue, but the state remains saddled with debt.
Record coal prices and booming house sales driven by an influx of interstate buyers have helped deliver Queensland Treasurer Cameron Dick an extra $18bn in revenue than was forecast in his first budget two years ago.
Despite the revenue jump, the state remains saddled with debt and a deteriorating health system, opposition Treasury spokesman David Janetzki says.
“The Treasurer has been gifted revenue rivers of gold and the obvious question is what does Queensland have to show for it?” he said “During this time, our health system has crumbled, our infrastructure hasn’t kept pace with growth and we have fewer police officers than two years ago.”
In Mr Dick’s first budget as Treasurer, delivered on December 1, 2020, in the weeks after the state election, revenue was estimated at $56.26bn for the financial year.
A surge in buyers from Sydney and Melbourne making deals on property following the opening of the state’s border coupled with soaring coal prices saw a jump in total revenue to $74.19bn last financial year.
Queensland is experiencing its biggest population boom since 1994, with an extra 50,000 people moving to the state last year compared with 22,000 people in 2019.
The surge in new residents boosted transfer duty to $6.03bn last year, an increase of 124 per cent from what was estimated in the 2020 budget. Coal royalties more than quadrupled to $7.29bn in the same period.
The state government says it has used the extra cash to double the state’s Housing Investment Fund to $2bn, increase Queensland Health’s operating budget by 5.6 per cent and hire 675 more teachers for next year.
Mr Dick in October said extra revenue would also be saved in anticipation of another La Nina-driven wet season after the February flood disaster cost the state about $2bn.
Net debt, which does not include government-owned corporations, forecast in the 2020 budget to reach $44.2bn by mid-2023 has been reduced to $19.8bn.
Despite the improved debt forecasts, Mr Janetzki said he was concerned by the interest bill on the borrowings, which will more than triple during the next four years, reaching $39.2bn by mid-2026.
“Despite revenue rivers of gold, debt has never been higher and services have never been worse,” he said.
“Instead of wasteful spending, Queenslanders want to see their money used responsibly to achieve things that improve their lives like healing the health system, fast-tracking infrastructure and supporting frontline workers do their jobs”.
In October, The Australian revealed that the LNP was formulating a debt-reduction plan to take to the next election.
Opposition Leader David Crisafulli said selling state assets and cutting government services were “off the table” after former LNP premier Campbell Newman slashed 14,000 public sector jobs and planned to privatise assets to pay down debt.
“We will have a fully costed plan, not just with a debt-reduction strategy but a service-delivery strategy as well,” he said.
“The greatest way we can reduce our debt is to grow the economy and ensure we cut wasteful spending.”
Mr Dick on Thursday accused the LNP of planning cuts to infrastructure delivery.
“The LNP has our budget, they know our commitments, so the LNP should say which projects they intend to cut in which communities,” he said.
Mr Dick will next week deliver the state’s mid-year fiscal review.
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