The Queensland government expects to spend $64 billion this year and almost half of that will be spent on employee and superannuation costs.
Handing down the budget on Tuesday,Treasurer Cameron Dick defended the rising cost of the public sector,arguing Queensland's growth rate compared favourably with those of other states.
"We're not going to cut the frontline and our public servants have done a wonderful job during COVID — it's why Queensland has been safe,"he said.
One of the Palaszczuk government's fiscal principles is to keep growth in the public service aligned with the state's population growth,a target it will fail to meet this year.
The Queensland public sector was expected to grow by 1.83 per cent between 2019-20 and 2023-24.
That compared to an estimated Queensland population growth of 1.25 per cent annually.
Mr Dick indicated the government may scrap the promise in the future.