The Palaszczuk government has been relatively tight-lipped ahead of the state budget being handed down on Tuesday.
Over the past few weeks, the New South Wales government has made a series of major announcements – totalling more than $30bn in commitments – in the weeks leading up to an election budget, also being handed down on Tuesday.
In Queensland, the state government has been far more subdued about what will be included in the budget, but has flagged funding boosts in key areas such as social housing, health and rail projects.
Here’s what we know so far.
Social housing
The Palaszczuk government says it will deliver up to 1,200 new social and affordable homes as a part of its $1bn Housing Investment Fund.
Annastacia Palaszczuk says the cash injection will be the “largest concentrated investment in social housing in Queensland’s history”.
The opposition leader, David Crisafulli, calls the measure “budget trickery” and says the funding was announced 12 months ago.
“We want to see a budget that delivers real money for social housing to help those 50,000 Queenslanders and more who are on a social housing waiting list,” he told reporters on Monday.
Another $200m will go into a fund for new roads, sewerage systems and other infrastructure in the south-east of the state to encourage new housing developments.
Coal royalties and taxes on gambling firms
The treasurer, Cameron Dick, has foreshadowed a royalty hike for miners but he is yet to reveal how much they’ll be expected to fork out.
Dick says the freeze on lifting royalties is set to change next financial year.
Taxes on bets taken by gambling firms will also rise, from 15% to 20%, on 1 July.
Dick says 80% of revenue raised will go to race regulator Racing Queensland, with the remainder to flow into government coffers.
Health
The Palaszczuk government will invest an additional $35.5m to develop Queensland’s vaccine manufacturing industry.
As part of that funding, the government will contribute three-quarters of the $80m cost of a manufacturing facility at medical research organisation the Translational Research Institute.
A $750m cancer hospital will also be built in Brisbane, which will allow cancer patients to access specialist treatments at a dedicated facility and is expected to ease pressure on crowded public hospitals.
Rail funding
The state budget will include a $3.5bn for pipeline of new rail projectsbefore the 2032 Olympic Games.
The funding will be dedicated to new rail projects over the next four years, including many projects that will be delivered over the next decade.
The $3.5bn will include $924m for stage three of the Gold Coast light rail, from Broadbeach South to Burleigh Heads; $876m for the Logan and Gold Coast faster rail upgrade from Kuraby to Beenleigh; and $489m towards the Beerburrum to Nambour rail upgrade.
Energy
Amid rising electricity costs, the government has already promised to wipe $43 off monthly household power bills.
The government has also earmarked another $15m investment for energy storage at Brisbane’s National Battery Testing Centre.
It comes after they promised $35m for a feasibility study on a second pumped hydro energy storage site and $13m to finalise feasibility studies on the proposed Borumba Dam Pumped Hydro storage project, near Gympie.
Schools
The government says $40m will be set aside for two key programs to deliver safety improvements around school zones.
The premier has also announced $13.3m in the budget to fund free sanitary products at state schools.
Reef program
The state budget will also include $10m in funding for a program aimed at protecting the Great Barrier Reef.
The Palaszczuk government said additional funding would be awarded to the Reef Assist program following a $12m pilot which lead to 232 jobs across 11 projects throughout the state.
What else can we expect?
Prof John Quiggin, laureate fellow in economics at the University of Queensland, says the state will face pressure to follow ACT, NSW and Victoria in phasing out stamp duty.
“That’s not going to happen in this budget, I think,” he says. “However, after years of being regarded as inconceivable, it’s now happening and we could see an announcement of an inquiry or similar.”
Quiggin also expects “something big” regarding the state’s energy transition.
“Perhaps an expansion of CleanCo or something new on hydrogen,” he said.
“It would be good to see an expansion of early childhood education, again following the southern states, but that may be while.”
