David Crisafulli gives debt guarantee, backs credit rating strategy

David Crisafulli has given a guarantee debt won’t rise above a critical threshold, declaring “the days of wanton spending will be a thing of the past”.

Opposition Leader David Crisafulli has given a guarantee debt won’t rise above a critical threshold.

David Crisafulli has given a guarantee debt won’t rise above a critical threshold, but has backed his Shadow Treasurer’s comments that restoring the state’s AAA credit rating is not a top priority.

Mr Crisafulli echoed comments by LNP Treasury spokesman David Janetzki that stabilising the debt would instead be a key goal of an LNP government.

“Well, we need to stabilise the bleeding. In the last financial year alone the government’s overrun was $9bn,’’ he said.

Mr Janetzki told The Australian interest on a projected blowout in debt, to $172bn, could soon top $7bn.

Asked if he would guarantee debt would not go higher than that if the LNP were elected, given the scale of their election promises, Mr Crisafulli said: “I guarantee debt will be lower under the LNP’’.

When asked if debt would not surpass $200bn, he responded: “Yes, I can categorically say that. The days of wanton spending will be a thing of the past.’’

Mr Crisafulli declined yet again to reveal the costing of all his election promises until next week, despite the electoral Commission of Queensland forecasting that half of all eligible residents would have lodged early votes by then.

“Well, they do know the details because we’ve put forward some of the most credible policies to deal with those big four crises (crime, health, cost of living and housing),’’ he said.

Originally published as David Crisafulli gives debt guarantee, backs credit rating strategy