Queensland election 2017 live: LNP pledges to slash debt
The LNP has releasing its party’s policy costings, and plans to reduce total government borrowings by $680 million.
Hello and welcome to coverage of the Queensland election campaign. With only two days left before polling day, Queensland’s rising debt has been in the spotlight, as Labor and the Liberal National Party released their election costings.
We will leave our live coverage here, join us again tomorrow for news and notes from the campaign trail.
• Top story: The LNP has pledged to slash borrowings by $680m
Charlie Peel 8pm: No promises for Darling Downs mine
Both major parties have refused to give assurances to Darling Downs miners that the mine expansion their job hinges on will go ahead, citing a pending judicial review of a non-binding Land Court decision as being the basis of their decision.
A new survey of 200 families who rely on the New Hope mine found at least 60 families would leave the district, west of Toowoomba, if the $900 million New Acland stage three expansion did not go ahead.
Visiting the Liberal National Party electorate of Condamine yesterday, leader Tim Nicholls took the same stance as Premier Anastasia Palaszczuk by saying that if formed government after Saturday he would abide by the Land Court’s ruling, if the judicial review expected in March upheld it.
“The position in relation to New Acland is that we understand very strongly the community’s desire to see jobs there, the matter is before the courts, it is subject to a judicial review and like everyone we’ve got to abide by the outcome of that judicial review,” Mr Nicholls said.
“Acland and New Hope have to abide by the outcome of that judicial review.
But when reminded that the Land Court decision is non-binding, Mr Nicholls said a government led by him would not challenge the decision.
“I understand the judicial review would refer the matter back to the land court and the Land Court would have to make a decision,” he said.
It is understood the LNP is wary of setting a precedent by going against a Land Court decision.
Only Labor’s Toowoomba North candidate Kerry Shine, a former resources minister, has called on the mine expansion to be approved outright.
But he would have a tough time convincing Ms Palaszczuk of that if she is re-elected.
The mine has become a hot-button election issue in the region, with the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union funding a statewide campaign in support of the expansion and attacking One Nation’s opposition to the plans.
Miner New Hope has said about 780 jobs are at stake if the expansion is canned.
In a new survey of New Acland miners, conducted by a group of associated families, 85 per cent of the respondents indicated their total family income came from employment at the mine.
The repercussions for the local economy could be damaging, according to the survey.
“Significantly, the survey also found that the loss of this income would have a serious flow on effect throughout the community with 47 per cent saying they would be forced to move from the Toowoomba region,” an accompanying statement said.
“This would mean not only an exodus of many workers but also 307 dependent children.
Schools, both primary and secondary, would feel the impact of this with 55 per cent of respondents reporting they have children at the region’s schools.”
Mr Nicholls, who toured Hervey Bay and the Sunshine Coast yesterday, said he was confident the jobs under threat if the mine expansion does not go ahead would be offset by his team’s infrastructure investment.
Sean Parnell 7pm: LNP’s plan to slash borrowings
LNP Treasury spokesman Scott Emerson, releasing his party’s policy costings, said a Nicholls government would reduce total government borrowings by $680 million in 2020-21.
However, Queensland’s total debt would still continue to rise each year under an LNP government. Under Mr Emerson’s plan, total debt would still exceed $80bn in 2020-21, reaching $80.47bn - $679m lower than the latest budget prediction for that year, of $81.148bn.
The figure is only slightly lower than Labor’s projected debt in 2020-21, confirmed by Treasurer Curtis Pitt this afternoon.
Mr Pitt said total debt would reach $80.87bn in 2020-21, just $276m lower than the budget projection.
Mr Emerson accused Labor of doing nothing about debt, and not delivering the debt reduction plan Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk had promised, despite running a scare campaign against the LNP.
He insisted the LNP had been upfront with Queenslanders, who would benefit from cost of living relief and positive policies, with no forced redundancies, no asset sales, and no new taxes.
“A vote for Labor is tax, tax, tax and tax,” Mr Emerson told reporters, seizing on Labor’s announcement.
“(Premier) Annastacia Palaszczuk has lied to Queenslanders for 26 days.”
The LNP is committed to $1.627b in new expenditure over four years, offset by $2.178b in savings measures, including a 0.95 per cent efficiency dividend across all departments.
The LNP has put up $1,751b in new capital infrastructure, to be funded by $2.721b in “reprioritisation,” most notably diverting $2.563b in funding set aside for the Cross River Rail project.
Mr Emerson said rather than divert taxpayer funds to a half-done, unfunded project, an LNP government would use that funding for other infrastructure while it improved the Cross River Rail modelling and business case.
“This project is too expensive to get wrong,” Mr Emerson said.
Mr Emerson said there would be more infrastructure built under an LNP government than another term of Labor.
Sarah Elk s 4pm: New taxes as Labor costings revealed
Queensland Labor will slug the “top end of town”, foreigners, and gambling companies with four new taxes worth $500m if it wins the election, but has no new plan to pay down debt – in defiance of a promise by the Premier.
Treasurer Curtis Pitt this afternoon announced Labor’s costings, which includes four new taxes to raise cash to pay for its $2.78bn in election promises – as well as to reduce the state’s total debt of $81bn by just $135m in 2020-21.
The new taxes include bumping up the transfer duty on foreign buyers of Queensland property from 3 per cent to 7 per cent, which will raise an extra $33m a year for three years.
The top 850 landholders in Queensland (not including farms) worth over $10m will be hit with a new land tax of 2.25 per cent for individuals and 2.5 per cent for trusts, companies or absentee landholders. That new tax is expected to raise $227m over three years.
Buyers of luxury cars will also be hit by a new tax, to raise more than $75m over three years, and betting companies will be taxed with a new 15 per cent charge on the net wagering revenue, to raise $90m over three years.
Mr Pitt was not able to name any new ways he would pay down debt. His own forecasts show debt is still expected to rise each year for the next four years – on both the government’s preferred general government sector debt measure and the total debt measure.
“The debt action plan we had will continue,” he said.
Instead of topping $81bn in 2020-21, total debt will reach $80.87bn by 2020-21.
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has said – as recently as this morning – that were would be a new debt reduction action plan.
Charlie Peel 11.50am: Premier ‘flip-flopping’ on Adani
Opposition Leader Tim Nicholls has continued his final-week attack on Annastacia Palaszczuk over her stance on the Adani Carmichael mine.
Campaigning this morning in Hervey Bay, Mr Nicholls jumped on revelations by The Australian that the Palaszczuk government is set to offer infrastructure funding and a royalty holiday for the mine that would cost Queensland taxpayers almost $500 million.
About $100 million of that would go towards funding roads to the mine.
This is despite the Premier saying no taxpayer funding would go to the Carmichael project.
“Annastacia Palaszczuk has been lying through her teeth the entire time on this Carmichael mine project,” Mr Nicholls said.
“We still don’t know the detail of her secret royalties deal and today we’re learning about another secret deal in relation to funding roads.
“Annastacia Palaszczuk has been flip-flopping on this issue ever since day one.
“She tells people in regional Queensland she is for it, she tells people in the southeast she is against it. God knows what she is telling the companies, god knows what she is telling the local councils.
“Annastacia Palaszczuk is the greatest threat to jobs that we see in Queensland.”
Mr Nicholls said he would honour the Labor government’s deals with Adani should he win government on Saturday.
Sarah Elks 11.40am: Premier dances around Adani questions
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has repeatedly refused to rule out spending taxpayers’ money to help the Adani mine go ahead, by upgrading critical roads in the Galilee Basin.
The Australian revealed today that Isaac Council Mayor Anne Baker says up to $100m needs to be spent on council roads leading to the proposed Adani mine, but the council cannot afford to keep the roads on their books. As a result, the council is in negotiations with the state government to have those roads taken over by the state and upgraded, so they can be used by heavy vehicles to the Adani mine.
Ms Palaszczuk has staked her integrity on the issue, after changing the government’s position and announcing three weeks ago that she would renege on the government’s written promise to facilitate a federal government loan to Adani.
In a bizarre media conference on the Sunshine Coast today, Ms Palaszczuk repeatedly refused to even acknowledge that Ms Baker had approached the state government with the request. She repeated her insistence that no taxpayers’ money would go to Adani – now saying that it would not go “directly” to the mining company.
But she danced around questions about whether she was ruling out state money being used to upgrade the roads, which only need to be improved because of the proposed mine.
“I am ruling out no taxpayer funds going directly to the mine, full stop. I’ve said that at length,” Ms Palaszczuk said.
Here’s a transcript of the exchange with reporters:
Reporter: “Premier, Isaac council mayor Anne Baker says her council can’t afford to upgrade, and have the roads to Adani’s mine on their books, and there are current negotiations with the state government for those roads to become state roads, and the state government to pay for their upgrade. Is that happening, will the state government pay for those roads to be upgraded, will the state government turn those council roads into state roads?”
Premier: “I’m happy to talk to Anne Baker about any issues she has in relation to council roads. Let me make it very clear, there is no taxpayer funds going to the Adani mine.”
Reporter: “Is the state government in current negotiations with the Isaac council as Anne Baker says?
Premier: “The state government has negotiations with councils about all of their various council roads.”
Reporter: “But just specifically on this point, is the state government talking to Anne Baker?
Premier: “Let me reiterate. There is no taxpayers’ funds going directly to the Adani mine.”
Reporter: “So the state won’t take over those mines, then, in the Isaac council?
Premier: “As I said, we talk to councils at length, numerous times, about infrastructure that they need. I’m happy to talk to Anne about any issues that she has, she has not raised those issues directly with me.”
Reporter: “Is any money going indirectly to Adani, you said there’s no money going directly?
Premier: “I said no taxpayers’ money is going to that mine.”
Reporter: “The mayor says the council has been in negotiations with the state government since February?”
Premier: “I’m happy to find that out, but she has not spoken to me.”
Reporter: “You don’t know about this at all?
Premier: “Councils talk to the state government, to the Main Roads Minister, all the time about roads. Let me make it very clear, there is a choice when it comes to this Saturday, in terms of what my government is doing, for example delivering the Works for Queensland budget to the councils.”
Reporter: “If the state government does take over those roads –”
Premier: “I’m not going to deal in hypotheticals.”
Reporter: “It’s not a hypothetical, they are talking to you?
Premier: “Councils talk to state governments”
Reporter: “But these roads are particularly for the mines, so when you keep saying your blanket ‘no taxpayers’ funds’ we’re just trying to work out whether you can actually say that?”
Premier: “Yes, I can actually say that, because I have made that commitment. OK? But in relation to councils, councils will always talk to state governments about their needs and their priorities. That doesn’t mean that the state government says yes. Sometimes they say yes, sometimes they say no.”
Reporter: “The council says they simply can’t afford to have those roads on their books, and the only reason the roads have to be upgraded is because of the Adani mine?”
Premier: “I’m happy to look into that for you.”
Reporter: “Are you ruling it out though?”
Premier: “I am ruling out no taxpayer funds going directly to the mine, full stop. I’ve said that at length.”
Reporter: “So if they came to you and said we need to get those roads off our books?”
Premier: “I’m not dealing in hypotheticals.”
Reporter: “It’s not hypothetical, the road exists, they need to upgrade it?
Premier: “I’m happy to have a look at that information.”
Reporter: “So we can talk to you again this afternoon, after you’ve got that information, and get a clear answer on what is actually going on?
Premier: “I’m happy to get back to you, I’m happy to get back to you, OK?”
10.30am: Costings under the microscope
My new series: press gallery reporters asking hard-hitting questions of koalas 🨠#qldvotes pic.twitter.com/c0YGrOJnMW
— Sarah Elks (@sarahelks) November 22, 2017
Both major parties have been grilled about how they plan to pay down the ballooning state debt, which is expected to rise to $81 billion by 2021. Treasurer Curtis Pitt will deliver Labor’s costings on Thursday in Brisbane, with Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk confirming the timing after several days of refusing to name a date.
Ms Palaszczuk earlier in the week also committed Mr Pitt to releasing a “debt reduction plan” at the same time as the costings announcement. The high level of debt, which the LNP aimed to target with their failed “Strong Choices” assets leasing plan at the 2015 election, has led to concerns Queensland’s credit rating could be further downgraded as a result. This week Mr Pitt said state debt would “never reach zero” but said there needed to be a plan to reduce debt that didn’t “wreck the economy.” On the LNP side, Shadow Treasurer Scott Emerson will deliver the opposition’s costings.
Leader Tim Nicholls has been trapped several times during the campaign by the debt question, most notably at last week’s leaders debate when he refused to say how he would pay for his election promises without cutting services or jobs in the public sector.
In an address to the Queensland Media Club on Tuesday, he again failed to answer the question, but strongly ruled out asset sales.
“I understand what the people of Queensland said at the last election campaign. For me it is off the table,” he said.
Stop vilifying Russia: candidate
Australia should develop nuclear weapons to deter China and forge new friendship with Moscow, according to Liberal candidate Gerard Rennick.
Emails continued after ban
Queensland Minister Mark Bailey defied a ban by Annastacia Palaszczuk on using private emails for work for two weeks.