After the Liberal National Party outlined a five per cent unemployment target, the Australian Bureau of Statistics revealed the September figure for Queensland was 7.7 per cent.

That was above the national average (6.9 per cent) and the rates in New South Wales (7.2 per cent) and Victoria (6.2 per cent), which has been subject to a lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Treasurer Cameron Dick claimed Victoria had 113,000 on JobKeeper payments, artificially boosting the state’s employment figures, whereas Queensland only had 30,000. The Sunshine State continued to create jobs during the period, which he said provided hope for the future.

“Queensland in that one month period created 1,000 jobs a day,” Dick said.

Dick made the comments after Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced a re-elected Labor government would acquire a site “smack bang in the middle of Rockhampton” for rail yards to support a $1 billion train manufacturing and refurbishment program.

“There is nothing more important than having a job and the dignity of work,” Palaszczuk said, predicting 550 jobs would be supported in Rockhampton and more in Maryborough.

LNP leader Deb Frecklington was the only contender for the position of premier willing to set an unemployment target, backing the five per cent figure chosen by the former Beattie Labor government.

Frecklington today pledged $67 million for a tropical aquaculture accelerator she said would support 11,000 jobs, including 480 in construction. Aquaculture is a growth export for Queensland.

“This means more barra, more prawns and thousands more jobs,” Frecklington said.

Labor included aquaculture in its skills program for future jobs.

While Frecklington insisted the next government should set an unemployment target, and work towards it, Palaszczuk said it would be “irresponsible” given the economic climate.

Dick tried to turn his own attack on the LNP back on its jobs pledge, saying there was “absolutely no way” it could reach five per cent while sacking 30,000 public sector workers to deliver a budget surplus as he has claimed.

“They cannot be trusted – don’t look at what they say, look at what they do,” Dick said, again reflecting on the record of the former LNP government of Campbell Newman.

Deputy Premier Steven Miles said Newman set a jobs target of four per cent and then cut public sector jobs, with unemployment peaking at 7.2 per cent in Queensland.

“That all happened without an economic crisis,” Miles said.

Miles and Palaszczuk said the Labor government’s response to COVID-19 had kept Queenslanders safe and avoided the need for lockdowns that would have had a greater impact on the economy.