Queensland balancing two booms as budget books arrive

Queensland Treasurer Cameron Dick will face two booms,and their potential benefit to the state’s bottom line,as he hands down the Palaszczuk government’s eighth budget on Tuesday,amid soaring coal and property prices.

But speaking on Monday,both Dick and Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk sought to emphasise the budget’s focus on one thing:health.

“It’ll be a strong Labor budget,focused on Labor values and delivering those jobs those services and supporting the lifestyle of Queenslanders wherever they live in the state,” Dick told reporters.

Groups including the Queensland's Australian Medical Association arm have been calling for increased funding as states and territoriesattempt to extract more themselves from the federal government.

But despite the challenges brought by COVID-19,the state’s bottom linehas been improving since.

Dick’s first budget flagged a post-COVID transformation of the state’s $234 million operating surplus into an $8.63 billion deficit that would ease to $1.39 billion within three years.

Earlier this month,he foreshadoweda deficit of less than $1.7 billion for the 2022-23 financial year after downward revisions in the past two economic statements due to increased transfer duty,tax receipts and fossil fuel revenue.

Dick has already flagged a “fair” boost the money coal companies return to government coffers through increased coal royalties,down 50 per cent last year to $1.75 billion due to the global economic downturn and Chinese import restrictions,as a 10-year freeze ends.

In response,the Queensland Resources Council has launched a public campaign calling for clarity around what costs miners faced and suggested any cost hike would deter foreign investors.

The lobby group has also claimed the move broke a Palaszczuk government re-election promise for no new fees and taxes,something Dick has denied — telling reporters last week the pledge was to “the people of Queensland”,not “big multinational corporations” or their domestic counterparts.

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“They’ve made billions and billions of dollars through record high coal prices,” Dick had said of coal companies.

Meanwhile,the housing situation has sparked a rare joint call from the Queensland Council of Social Services,Local Government Association of Queensland,Real Estate Institute of Queensland,Property Council of Australia and Master Builders Queensland for more social housing funding.

Early lifts in property market activity had already led forecasts of a $1.5 billion boost to taxation revenue in the current financial year,driven largely by transfer duty receipts,even before Brisbane led the nation with itssteepest property price jump in 18 years across the year to March.

In a statement last week,QCOSS chief executive Aimee McVeigh said while the government’s funding last year —still half of what was being asked — was welcomed,the number of homes so far in train to be delivered did not get close to addressing demand as rents rise with property prices and more than 50,000 people remain on the social housing register.

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“The government have said they will start 727 residences by the end of June,it’s just not enough,” McVeigh said last week.

The state has already announced other moves to boost its bottom line as well. Earlier this month,Dick said the point of consumption tax for wagering companieswould rise from 15 per cent to 20 per cent and expand to include free and bonus bets,despite protests from some in the industry.

Treasury has alsotaken an interest in traffic fines and other infringements,with a larger-than-usual jump in the value of a penalty unit amid heightened inflation.

Rising inflation is fuelling the efforts of some public sector unions,negotiating with the government to replace expiring enterprise agreements,to land pay rises to keep up. Dick extended a 12-month hiring freeze on non-frontline public sector rolesalongside the last budget.

Some cost-of-living measures have also been announced,with residents set toreceive a $175 rebate off their electricity bills as prices rise.

The government has been drip-feeding other details of the looming budget in recent weeks,including $35.5 million towardvaccine manufacturing,$48 million for work toboost pumped hydroelectricity capacity,and $13.3 million to expand its free period product programto all state schools.

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