‘It will be difficult’: Treasurer admits Queensland debt charging towards $200 billion
Queensland Treasurer Cameron Dick admits the 2024 budget will be “difficult”, with state debt expected to grow to $188 billion in four years.
Treasurer Cameron Dick has reflected on his call for Australia to overhaul vaccine arrangements during his previous role as health minister. Photo: ABC
Mr Dick has outlined the government’s forward estimates with preliminary forecasts suggesting that by the 2027-2028 financial year Queensland’s net debt could reach $73 billion.
Gross general government debt that financial year could reach $128 billion and when combined with borrowings, total debt could reach $188 billion, he said.
The state budget was effectively in balance when Mr Dick provided his mid-year review in December on the back of a $4.3 billion surplus in 2021/22 and a record $13.9 billion surplus in 2022/23.
That was on the back of coal royalties supporting Queensland’s post-pandemic boom which had been forecast to boost revenue by $9.4 billion over five years.
Additional royalty from coal has pumped around $5.8 billion into the economy since being adopted in July 2022.
But government coffers are set to take a hit over the next four-year electoral term, with the price of steelmaking coal falling 25 per cent and Queensland seeing a reduction in GST from their federal counterparts.
“The next state budget will be difficult,” the treasurer told parliament on Wednesday.
“On a proportional basis, these preliminary forecasts are consistent with the debt levels we were forecasting in 2020.
“At its greatest, total debt remains about one third the size of Queensland’s economy.”
The government outlined $8.224 billion in cost-of-living concessions in last year’s budget and Mr Dick indicated the government would continue to deliver further relief when the June budget is handed down.
Free kindergarten for families has begun in 2024 and registration fees for motor vehicles will be frozen for 12 months from July 1.
The government has also provided $1.483 billion in electricity rebates to Queenslanders this financial year, with most households receiving $550 towards their energy bills and vulnerable households receiving $700.
But the government’s four-year big build infrastructure program has increased in cost from $89 billion to $96 billion, as per the mid-year budget review.
Mr Dick said the government will use forecasted debt to deliver proposed infrastructure, reduce inflation and increase productivity in the economy.
“Queensland never stops working, Queensland will never retire and our economy will never stop growing,” he said.
“As a government we will be working hard in the coming months leading up to the state budget to ensure Queensland’s debt is as low as possible.”
