QLD Budget 2016/17

[ozbob]

What! No new Infrastructure projects with our coal windfall - did you get rolled @jackietrad ? #qldpol #MYFER

— Deb Frecklington MP (@DebFrecklington) December 13, 2016

[ozbob]

So if Cross River Rail is Qld's number 1 infrastructure project why doesn't it get an extra cent in #MYEFR ? #qldpol

— Steven Wardill (@stevenwardill) December 13, 2016

[ozbob]

[James]

Mr Pitt said the new support included:

    a $200 million Jobs and Regional Growth Package incorporating an extra $160 million on top of the existing $40 million Industry Attraction Program, and
    a $200 million two-year Works for Queensland program to support local councils across the state undertaking job-creating, maintenance or minor infrastructure projects.

He said cost-of-living initiatives funded through the MYFER included the government's $180 million response to the Queensland Productivity Commission's inquiry into power pricing:

    $170 million over four years to extend the existing electricity rebate to an estimated 157,000 households holding Commonwealth Health Care Cards who will save up to $330 a year from 1 January 2017 with all current recipients of the rebate retaining it,
    a $10 million package to support regional business operators by helping them better manage their power consumption with the aim of lowering their bills.

Guess how much that is? $540m... Didn't the LNP estimate the cost of an upgrade of the SCL to be around $540m? So instead of SCL, we're getting a whole bunch of money being wasted on pork barrelling rural seats under threat from PHON and lower-income seats in the suburbs.

p%ssing money away!

[ozbob]

Since the last election, @AnnastaciaMP and @QLDLabor have cut infrastructure spending in Queensland by 3 billion dollars. #MYFER #qldpol pic.twitter.com/7B5BSoSSt4

— Tim Nicholls MP (@TimNichollsMP) December 13, 2016

[kram0]

Just when you think this government could not get any worse!! Think of the major infrastructure that could have started (CRR,SCL) with this bonus windfall thanks to the rise in commodity prices. Not to mention the real jobs that would have been created. What a waste, what a shite government....

[ozbob]

It is an embarrassment this Govt.

Not much else to be said really ...  days are numbered.

[#Metro]

MYFER outlines $400M initiatives to step up job-creation commitment

Treasurer Curtis Pitt says the State's stronger economic performance revealed in the 2016-17 Mid-Year Fiscal and Economic Review means the Palaszczuk Government is stepping up job-creation efforts, especially in regional Queensland.

Hmm... I wonder what the definition of this actually is.

Does this include so-called "independent" GOCs (Government Owned Corporations)?

A whole heap of debt was transferred to these "independent" GOCs, and in the process, showing that they are not independent at all.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-12-15/mid-year-budget-review-pitt-1-billion-transferred-ports-water/7028358

$850m debt transferred to Gladstone Ports, North Queensland Bulk Ports and SunWater

Queensland Budget: $4.1 billion of State debt to be transferred to power distributors
http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/queensland-government/queensland-budget-41-billion-of--state-debt-to-be-transferred-to-power-distributors/news-story/3bd2f417f051bfdb09ff0cb1db9d622d

Mr Pitt has the revealed plans to reduced Government debt by $4 billion by moving to Government-owned corporations

Power distributors Powerlink, Energex, Ergon Energy as well as generators CS Energy and Stanwell will pick up the debt, but Mr Pitt said it would not force power prices up.

Is a GOC really 'independent'? No. What is it 'independent' of? Board is gov't nominated, and debt can be transferred in and out with ease it seems (what genuinely private company would allow the state to dump public debt on to it's balance sheet - that right, none!) and if it went bankrupt, I'm pretty sure the gov't would be there to rescue it ASAP.

This looks a lot like smoke and mirrors accounting.

https://queenslandeconomywatch.com/2015/07/10/accounting-trick-wouldnt-improve-qld-governments-real-financial-position/

[aldonius]

Aww yes I love it when the LNP criticises Labor for running a budget surplus instead of spending on infra. 

[ozbob]

Sent to all outlets:

14th December 2016

$2bn Qld Govt Surplus - Where is the money for transport infrastructure?

Greetings,

RAIL Back on Track notes that in the Mid-Year Fiscal and Economic Review, the Queensland government has announced $540 million to be spent on jobs packages for regional areas in North Queensland and for energy subsidies for low-income families [1]. RAIL Back On Track notes that this amount is almost the same as the amount required to duplicate the Sunshine Coast line (SCL) from Beerburrum to Landsborough - $532 million, according to estimates made by the former government [2].

Would this money not be better spent on an infrastructure project which will unlock vast benefits across the freight & passenger rail network?

The aforementioned section of the SCL is the most congested along the entire corridor from Brisbane to Cairns. The benefits of the duplication is not limited to pork barrelling in a few seats. The benefits will be wide-ranging, from reducing the road toll on the Bruce, providing much needed construction jobs and reduces the need to repair and upgrade the Bruce Highway. Duplication of the SCL is not only a vote winner on the Sunshine Coast - it is a vote winner for the whole state.

Queensland is in dire need of infrastructure funding after inaction on both sides of politics for the better part of a decade. The Sunshine Coast Line Duplication has had numerous studies commissioned, and is relatively cheap compared to Cross River Rail, busway extensions or Bruce Highway upgrades. Building new infrastructure not only provides jobs, but makes it easier for citizens to conduct business, and access new opportunities.

Best wishes
Robert

Robert Dow
Administration
admin@backontrack.org
RAIL Back On Track https://backontrack.org

References:

1. http://statements.qld.gov.au/Statement/2016/12/13/revised-2-billion-surplus-for-201617--largest-in-a-decade
2. http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/queensland-state-election-2015/queensland-election-lnp-promises-sunshine-coast-train-line-duplication-20150113-12n1l5.html

[ozbob]

Media: ' $2bn Qld Govt Surplus - Where is the money for transport infrastructure? '
> https://t.co/zjtsZ5hKhE#qldpol@AnnastaciaMP pic.twitter.com/uwSYmajiRO

— Robert Dow (@Robert_Dow) December 13, 2016

[ozbob]

Brisbanetimes --> Queensland's budget update: Huge boon or billion reasons to feel left out?

[techblitz]

so lets gets this straight....they have been requesting money from the feds for transport infra.....and now that they have spare money they are using it to shore up votes instead?? Even more reason for turnbull to NOT to cough up any more dough...

[ozbob]

4BC Radio --> Opposition cite missed infrastructure opportunities

[ozbob]

so lets gets this straight....they have been requesting money from the feds for transport infra.....and now that they have spare money they are using it to shore up votes instead?? Even more reason for turnbull to NOT to cough up any more dough...

Yes, looks very much like that hey?

[ozbob]

For once Mr Houghton makes some good points ...

Couriermail --> Opinion: Bungling Palaszczuk Government unfit to lead

Extract

... Some of this Government's serious failures are less obvious.

Palaszczuk has no plan to spend on transport infrastructure, and the Brisbane CBD is choking.

If you don't believe me, go to South Bank any weekday at 5pm in the electorate of Deputy Premier Jackie Trad and see how the buses stretch all the way from the cultural centre across the Victoria Bridge to North Quay. The public transport crisis is not "looming", it is already here.

Meanwhile, sclerotic traffic flow in and out of Brisbane is now hurting the economies of the Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast and Moreton Bay.

Commuters are exasper­ated, yet bungling Transport Minister Stirling Hinchliffe has no plan that I can see.


Buses stretch all the way across Victoria Bridge, in a reflection of the public transport crisis.

Neither does Trad, the Planning and Infrastructure Minister.

Under Labor's revised Southeast Queensland Regional Plan, the State Government has set Brisbane City Council a target of approving more than 223,000 new homes over 30 years just to keep up with the city's growing population.

With no new rail or bus corridors planned, just how will these people get from A to B?

The State Government stopped building busways when Anna Bligh was premier. The State Infrastructure Plan has no busway projects listed for the next four years.

Having squandered its own resources, this pathetic State Government is now shifting costs to the Brisbane council, with ratepayers picking up the tab.

The council is now set to ­deliver the Brisbane Metro, which in any other state would also have been a government project.
The Go Between Bridge is among several projects initiated by Brisbane City Council in recent years. Picture: Mark Calleja

The projects initiated by the council in the past 12 years include the Eleanor Schonell Bridge to St Lucia ($65 million), the Clem 7 tunnel ($2 billion), the Go Between Bridge ($315 million), and Legacy Way ($1.5 billion), as well as a number of level crossings. ...

[#Metro]

Under Labor's revised Southeast Queensland Regional Plan, the State Government has set Brisbane City Council a target of approving more than 223,000 new homes over 30 years just to keep up with the city's growing population.

With no new rail or bus corridors planned, just how will these people get from A to B?

Easy. Declare the areas around all rail stations TOD zones.