Campbell Newman would be rolling in his political grave had he seen this.
But that’s the whole point of Queensland Treasurer David Janetzki’s first state budget – a “no austerity” plan that grows the public sector, increases state debt to over $200bn, and is noticeably devoid of ideological antagonists.
The last time a first-term Liberal National party government in Queensland presented its initial financial plan back in 2012, the health minister, Tim Nicholls, along with Newman sacked 14,000 public servants and reduced frontline services. The action significantly set back Queensland’s conservatives at the polls for the next decade.
Janetzki describes his budget as an effort to strike a middle ground. In truth, it’s a deliberate effort by the new government to distance itself from Newman; burying the former premier’s slash-and-burn approach deep and setting it in concrete to prevent a return.
The LNP was elected last year, mainly due to its hardline stance on youth crime, with a strategy of neutralization towards many other issues – adopting Labor’s plans and reducing many of the differences in economic policy. The 2025 budget is consistent with that philosophy, maintaining several of Labor’s cost-of-living policies, including 50c transport fares and energy rebates.
Despite some budgetary challenges, both real and contrived, the government has delivered on these promises. Coal royalties have decreased drastically compared with the recent past, when Labor raised royalty rates on super profits and profited billions from high export prices. Queensland’s GST allocation for next year has also decreased, partly due to the state’s strong coal royalties income in previous years.
The LNP spent several months in power in Queensland promoting exaggerated claims about Labor manipulating the books. Those claims raised concerns that the government was preparing to excuse ideological cuts as necessary.
The government has managed budgetary pressures primarily by allowing state debt to continue rising. They acknowledge the state could face a credit rating downgrade.
However, it remains unknown what the LNP’s hardliners think privately about this budget. Many in the partyroom and the broader party privately want to address debt and control the public sector.
For now, there is little public dissent about the course. Focus groups reveal that Queenslanders want public assets to remain in public hands and value reasonable government spending on the services they rely on.
This is a budget from a government prioritizing a second term above all else and one that wants to ensure the comparisons with Newman – whose first budget was dubbed a “horror show” and influenced four Queensland elections – become a thing of the past.
“If there is one scare campaign I expect the opposition to run hardest on,” Janetzki said to reporters, “I’m not even going to say the word, but I will say their scare campaign ends today.”
What he was really communicating was that the LNP now has the chance to move away from the shadow of “He Who Must Not Be Named”.
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/jun/24/queensland-state-budget-2025-qld-treasurer-david-janetzki
