Latest news with #QueenslandBudget
The Guardian
9 hours ago
- Business
- The Guardian
Queensland budget 2025: Crisafulli vows no austerity despite state facing $218bn debt
The Queensland premier, David Crisafulli, has promised no austerity in his first budget, despite the state facing a forecast $218bn in debt. Tuesday's state budget will be the Liberal National party's first since 2014. Then led by premier Campbell Newman, the LNP lost government in 2015 after slashing tens of thousands of public service positions and proposing the sell-off of public assets to balance the books. The 2025-26 budget is expected to run a deficit, despite what the government admits is a relatively poor financial position. Asked how his approach would differ to the last LNP government, Crisafulli said he had chosen not to impose austerity measures. 'My choice is respect for people's money, not austerity. And you can respect people's money, and you can still build things, and you can still grow the services that people need,' he said on Monday. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email The premier said the budget would look to resolve 'structural changes' in service delivery 'so structurally in the years to come, this state can grow and grow well'. 'We are fixing the mess we've inherited,' Crisafulli said. The LNP government claims that debt would have peaked under Labor at $218bn in 2027-28. Labor claims it would have hit just $176bn. Last year's budget – Labor's last in government – was packed with cost-of-living relief, much of it funded by borrowing. That included now permanent measures like 50-cent public transport fares, but also a range of 'sugar hit' policies such as a $1,000 energy rebate and cheaper car registration. Queensland's state government is also midway through a $100bn infrastructure program, some of it a result of the 2032 Brisbane Olympics. In January the treasurer, David Janetzki, conceded a fiscal downgrade was virtually guaranteed for the state, 'with debt per capita tracking to be the worst in the country'. He said the fiscal trouble was due to an enormous increase in infrastructure costs – which he blamed on his Labor predecessors – and a decline in coal revenue, expected to drop by more than half. Janetzki said the budget would 'lay the foundation for that long-term budget repair'. 'As a government, we have been very calm and methodical about how we've undertaken the budget process,' Janetzki said on Monday. Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion The 2025-26 budget will include $147.9m in funding for extra police equipment. It will also include a $33bn investment in the public health system, the ABC has reported. It comes as the government is locked in enterprise bargaining with the Queensland Nurses and Midwives' Union and is expected to face protests on Tuesday from the Queensland Teachers' Union. Both are furious at pay offers they say break a promise for nation-leading wages. The opposition leader, Steven Miles, has accused the government of halting Labor's hospital expansion program and cancelling projects. 'They promised this magic pudding where they could somehow lower taxes, increase spending but have lower debt. That was always based on a lie … [On Tuesday] we get to see which of their promises they've decided to break,' Miles said. Labor has long accused the government of planning to cut infrastructure projects and cost-of-living measures. On Monday Miles said the government had been worse than Campbell Newman's. S&P Global Ratings confirmed Queensland's AA+ credit rating last September. In February it revised its outlook after a midyear fiscal update by the new government, warning 'debt may rise rapidly'. It predicted that 'several projects may be cancelled, deferred or changed in scope to reduce the state's infrastructure spending over the next three years', which would lower overall infrastructure spending, pointing to a decision to slash a huge hydroelectric project, once billed as the world's largest. 'Queensland's debt levels will increase to fund spending pressures. We forecast total tax-supported debt will rise to more than 150% of operating revenue in fiscal 2027 from 100% in fiscal 2023,' it said. The agency reaffirmed its AA+ long-term credit rating, noting the state's 'exceptional liquidity and wealthy economy'.
ABC News
a day ago
- Business
- ABC News
Queensland treasurer promises targeted cost-of-living relief in first budget
Queensland Treasurer David Janetzki is promising cost-of-living relief for those who "need it most" as he prepares to hand down the LNP government's first budget. In an interview with the ABC, Mr Janetzki would not guarantee a return to surplus within the next four years and was also coy about how much he would cut debt. The treasurer will deliver the state budget on Tuesday — and has indicated he could unveil more cost-of-living support, as he commits to targeted relief measures. A raft of pre-election initiatives introduced by the former Labor government are set to end, including $1,000 energy bill rebates and 20 per cent vehicle rego discounts. Mr Janetzki said "vulnerable" households will still get power bill reductions. He also spruiked $30,000 concessions for first home buyers purchasing new builds as well as $200 vouchers for parents with kids playing sport. "We have a duty to support households that are under pressure, families that are under pressure, businesses that are under pressure," he said. "We're targeting cost-of-living relief at those who need it the most and I'll have more to say about that on Tuesday." In their last budget in office, Labor had projected deficits for 2024-25 and 2025-26, before forecasting surpluses for 2026-27 and 2027-28. But in the budget update handed down in January, the LNP government significantly revised those forecasts, with the budget plunged into the red for all four financial years. This included deficits of more than $9 billion in both 2026-27 and 2027-28, which the government blamed on its Labor predecessors. Mr Janetzki would not guarantee a return to surplus within the next four years, as he claimed he was left with a "serious challenge" to get the budget back in the black. "There are serious challenges that we face with the budget. We're up to it and I look forward to sharing more on Tuesday," he said. After Labor had initially projected total debt would reach $172 billion by 2027-28, the LNP government also significantly revised that figure to $218 billion in January. Mr Janetzki is vowing to reduce total debt below $218 billion, but won't say if the debt figure in Tuesday's budget will still have a two at the front. He said he was doing everything he could to maintain the state's credit rating. S&P Global currently puts Queensland's credit rating at AA+, although it revised its outlook in February from stable to negative. "The work of this budget has been taken so seriously because our rating matters," Mr Janetzki said. "And I want to make sure that we have prepared a budget and can share that budget with the ratings agencies that they see clearly that we have taken the challenges that Queensland faces seriously. "We know a downgrade means higher interest costs. The cost of borrowing increases." Mr Janetzki ruled out any asset sales or any cuts to services. He also reaffirmed the government's commitment of no new or increased taxes. In January, Shadow Treasurer Shannon Fentiman claimed the government had "juiced up" the budget figures in a way that could put the state's credit rating at risk.
