Queensland Police faces $200 million budget blow out but boss vows no frontline cuts

The state’s police service have been told to find savings as it deals with a whopping budget blowout almost big enough to rebuild the Wellcamp quarantine facility. Read how this happened.

Qld Police Commissioner Steve Gollschewski under pressure to explain huge budget black hole.

Queensland Police are being directed to dramatically cut costs as the service faces a budget black hole so big it rivals the bill for the defunct Wellcamp quarantine facility.

The Queensland Police Service (QPS) is about $200 million over its $3.7 billion budget four months into the financial year, leaked emails show.

“As discussed, the draft 2024-25 budget allocations for QPS business areas and centralised Fixed Salaries and Statewide costs are overallocated,” a senior staff member wrote in the leaked email to QPS leaders. “To ensure the total budgets allocated equal the total revenue approved for the QPS, an adjustment of 5.6 per cent is required to be applied across all budget allocations to correct the overallocation. ELT (Executive Leadership Team) buy-in is essential to achieving responsible financial management.”

A QPS spokesperson, answering Bulletin questions, admitted: “An early assessment has identified the QPS will exceed the operating budget due to rising costs and approved commitments.

“Work is underway to identify opportunities to adjust internal allocations so QPS can meet their 2024-25 allocated operating budget. This work will also allow the QPS to better understand and accurately project funding the QPS needs to service demand and meet community expectations.”

It’s understood the blow out is partly the result of a lease signed on a building in Stones Corner (pictured) to house a new police station. Photo Steve Pohlner

On Thursday the Queensland Police Commissioned Officers’ Union (QPCOUE), for senior staff in executive leadership, wrote to Commissioner Steve Gollschewski with fears: “I refer to the current instruction across the service requiring a 5.6 per cent budget adjustment across all budget allocations to correct a financial deficit values in excess of $200m.

“You advised members of the Commissioned Officers Union would not be held financially accountable or suffer a detriment as a result of the financial consequences of the Stones Corner situation,” union president Kerry Johnson wrote. “We have received numerous inquiries from our members alarmed at the developments. Equally confused as to how the QPS got in this position.”

The former Police Minister Mark Ryan refused to answer questions over his department’s spending on the Stones Corner lease. Picture: NewsWire/Tertius Pickard

Police sources claim rising costs are partly caused by a QPS lease for a new Stones Corner station, near Brisbane: “We’re all being expected to pull savings out of you know where to correct it. Can’t be done. Not without impacting frontline services.”

Leaked documents show the 10-year lease will cost $240 million with a six-year option to extend. An extra $40m is expected to fit-out the new facility.

“You can’t cut enough toilet paper and pens to fix this, yet that is what is being asked of us”, another senior officer claimed, adding: “We will have to cut overtime and pull cars off the road at this rate.”

But the QPS spokesperson said: “The Commissioner has made a commitment that frontline service delivery, critical systems and the welfare of the workforce will not be impacted.”

The spokesperson said the Stones Corner lease was signed in ex-Commissioner Katarina Carroll’s term and subject to independent assessment.

“KordaMentha was appointed on August 19 to conduct an end-to-end external audit into the circumstances leading to the lease arrangements, including examining the processes undertaken and reasons,” the QPS spokesman said. “The audit is ongoing, and a report is expected to be finalised within the next four weeks.”

Originally published as Queensland Police faces $200 million budget blow out but boss vows no frontline cuts