‘Chaos’: Anna roasted over cost of living

Queensland opposition leader Leader David Crisafulli was warmly welcomed by members and supporters at the LNP State Conference in Brisbane on Sunday.

Mr Crisafulli condemned the state government’s handling of the rising cost of living, highlighting its controversial “renters tax” as part of its land tax policy which was shelved in October after other states failed to support the idea.

“This saved Queenslanders from the lunacy of a tax on renters in the middle of a housing crisis … but the damage was done,” Mr Crisafulli said.

“The uncertainty caused by Labor’s ill-fated Renters’ Tax inflicted untold damage on the confidence of investors and has exacerbated the Queensland Housing Crisis.”

Mr Crisafulli referred to Australian Bureau of Statistics data which found new investor loans in Queensland had declined by 24 per cent in the last 12 months.

“The broken promises of Labor are making Queensland a risky place to invest, and everyday Queenslanders are paying the price,” Mr Crisafulli said.

“The Queensland Housing Crisis has been made worse by this Government’s failures to release land and their inability to build new social housing.”

Mr Crisafulli said the LNP promised the Queensland’s Housing Investment Fund “will only be spent on building new housing stock and not take supply away from the existing markets”.

“The community housing sector must be supported.

“Unfortunately, Labor has neglected them, and now Queensland is the only state in the country where community housing has gone backwards.”

Mr Crisafulli also said people’s pockets were being hit by rising energy cost, claiming the government’s management of the Callide Power Plant, south of Rockhampton, proved costly.

“The Cost-of-Living Crisis has been fuelled in part by the Government’s negligence and failure to maintain their power plants.

“For months, the Government claimed there was no impact to energy prices, but we kept on digging and forced an admission.

“We are unsure whether it is sheer incompetence to maintain what we have, or a philosophical aversion to coal fired generation, but either way it is costing Queenslanders dearly.

“Let me be clear the LNP commits to a Maintenance Guarantee on our power plants to ensure essential maintenance is not put off in favour of dividends … we will keep the lights on in Queensland.

“Every day we speak to Queenslanders who don’t know whether they will be able to find a house when their lease is up, afford their next electricity bill or what essentials they will put back on the grocery shelf.

“These are the people we must fight for.”

A spokeswoman for the premier’s office stated the recent budget had given Queenslanders a financial boost to alleviate as part of their $8.2b cost of living relief measures.

All households will automatically receive a $550 rebate on their electricity bill in 2023-24.

Youth Crime a key focus

Meanwhile, Mr Crisafulli said youth justice has also gone by the wayside under the current government.

“It is clear, the chaos and crisis of the Labor Government has ruined our State’s Child Safety system and is turbocharging the Queensland Youth Crime Crisis,” he said.

The Queensland Labor government announced in April a funding package estimated to be worth more than $3m to fight the scourge of youth offending.

The funding would be provided through 12 new community projects focused on tackling youth crime at the grassroots.

The premier’s spokeswoman said the LNP had supported new tougher measures on Youth Justice by voting in favour of the policy in April.

However, Mr Crisafulli said more needed to be done to prevent children falling through the cracks and “falling into a life of crime”.

Mr Crisafulli said there must be better management of the youth residential homes, where 1700 children currently reside under Queensland care.

He stated recent figures showed about 58 per cent of children cautioned by the Youth Justice System have recently been involved with the Child Safety system.

Deputy LNP Leader Jarrod Bleijie has also written to the Auditor-General asking him to conduct a comprehensive audit of Queensland’s current early intervention programs.

Mr Crusifulli also committed on Sunday the LNP would provide hospital data in real-time within 100 days of the election.

Queenslanders will go to the polls in October 2024.

Originally published as LNP Conference: David Crisafulli outlines plan for Queensland