13 hours ago
Queensland Treasurer David Janetzki aims for hope amid uncertain times in ambitious state budget
Hope in uncertain times is the takeaway in the budget handed down on Tuesday by Queensland's newly minted treasurer David Janetzki.
On the hope side of the ledger: the "Boost to Buy" shared equity scheme to allow young Queenslanders to buy a property worth up to $1 million on a deposit as low as 2 per cent.
The $165 million for up to 1,000 people is an arguably modest start, but Mr Janetzki hopes it's just the beginning and that he will tip more money into the bucket if it's fully taken up.
"I want 'Boost to Buy' to drive home ownership in Queensland," he said.
"The government wants you to have hope to own a home."
There is also extra money committed to build more social housing, amid the acknowledgement that it simply cannot address the extent of the problem when 52,000 Queenslanders are already on the social housing wait list.
The treasurer says he thinks the gap will need to be met with community housing purchases but adds that he's not the housing minister.
Cost-of-living relief, in the treasurer's own words, is "modest and targeted".
Two of the measures are directed at helping families with school-aged children.
Another is to revive CPI indexation on electricity rebates, lifting it next year from $372 to $386 for an estimated 600,000 Queensland households classed as "vulnerable".
There's no across-the-board electricity rebate like last year.
And it's underpinned by the aforementioned uncertainty when revenue is already taking a dive.
Credit rating agency S&P Global notes "a sharp deterioration in the state's finances".
It says the risk to Queensland's AA+ credit rating "remains elevated".
Premier David Crisafulli says Queensland is getting a "kick in the pants" on GST, expecting it to fall $2.29 billion in 2025-26.
With coal royalty revenue also falling and government costs rising 5.34 per cent, the budget will remain in deficit for at least another four years.
Total debt is predicted to hit $205.7 billion by 2028-29.
But Mr Janetzki admits these figures could blow out further under the influence of the deteriorating situation in the Middle East.
Queensland's $8.6 billion budget deficit for 2025-26 is even worse than predicted in Mr Janetzki's mid-year review.
The hope is that this will be pulled back to just over $1 billion by 2028-29.
There were numerous questions asked of the government in the budget lock-up over discrepancies between Labor's last budget and the debt and deficit figures now being quoted.
Mr Janetzki says it's because the previous government simply had not budgeted for many significant commitments, citing $638 million for the new Springfield Mater Hospital as one example.
A 10 per cent boost to health spending in this budget comes amid a vow from the treasurer that the LNP will invest more in health, education, transport and housing than Labor.
Asked why anybody should trust any of it when the budget transition has felt so rubbery, the premier acknowledged the need for a parliamentary budget office and committed to having one in place by this time next year.
A budget office was an LNP election promise to deliver "independent policy and budget analysis".
There is no small degree of hope being invested in the new Queensland Government Consulting Services agency, now locked in and due to start work from July 1.
A new agency means hiring more staff. Because sometimes you have to spend money to save money.
At its core, this agency is intended to cut $6.8 billion from the growth in external consultant hiring and instead have more work done in-house.
Mr Janetzki says he remains very confident the new agency will hit that mark.
Of course, there are also wage negotiations underway with nurses, teachers and police. It's too early to say how these will affect the bottom line.
Mr Janetzki says he is ambitious for the future of Queensland.
Hope springs eternal.
