May 28, 2013
Many South Burnett residents will face a $500-$600 a year rise in their basic living costs when the State Government brings down the 2013-14 Queensland Budget next Tuesday.
Yesterday Queensland Treasurer Tim Nicholls briefed journalists on the highlights of the upcoming Budget.
He said Queensland was facing a $6-7 billion revenue shortfall due to the high Australian dollar, lower-than-expected gambling, tax and royalty revenues and depressed market conditions.
This left the State Government with only three options to deal with the situation: either raise taxes, cut services or drive up debt.
Mr Nicholls said what the government had chosen to do was to defer its election promise to bring the State’s Budget back into surplus by a year to ease pressure for higher tax rises.
However, in order to maintain government services, some measures would need to be taken to stem the loss of government revenue.
These included:
- Scrapping a promised $100-plus electricity rebate to combat an expected 21.4 per cent rise in electricity prices scheduled to begin on July 1, which could add about $375 a year to average household power charges
- Expanding the existing fire levy into an emergency management, fire and rescue levy, and increasing it by 6.5 per cent from January 1, 2014 for all rateable properties. Rateable properties in metropolitan areas would pay $184 and regional and rural areas would pay the levy for the first time, averaging $90 a year. This measure is expected to raise $50 million in 2014
- Raising insurance duty on general insurance products by up to 9 per cent to help fund the national disability insurance scheme. Treasury estimates Queenslanders who have taken out an insurance policy on a $300,000 home with $75,0000 contents will pay $25 extra a year
- Deferring planned increases in the payroll tax threshold for another two years to save $235 million, which will be used to help pay for the 2013 natural disaster
To offset some of these things, Mr Nicholls said:
- Those holding pensioner and concession cards as well as senior’s and repatriation cards would receive assistance with their electricity bills
- The government would remain committed to maintaining rural and regional power prices at the same price as those charged in the city
- Car registration fees would remain frozen
- The rise in insurance duty would not affect workers’ compensation premiums or compulsory third party motor vehicle insurance premiums
- There would be no change to mining royalties
- A proposal to introduce a flood levy to raise $1 billion over the coming year had been axed
Mr Nicholls said there would be little new spending in the upcoming Budget outside the core services of education, health and community services.
He is due to hand down his second Budget on Tuesday, June 4.
