Hinchinbrook MP, Andrew Cripps, says Queenslanders should be concerned about the raids, rip-offs and write downs in the Palaszczuk Governments second radical budget from Treasurer Curtis Pitt and warned that it would lead to higher unemployment and increased debt.

Mr Cripps said Labor’s second budget confirmed the Palaszczuk Government was incapable of delivering a long-term economic plan or creating jobs for Queensland and was instead propping up the states finances by raiding public servants superannuation and increasing taxes.

“Last year, Labor shifted $4 billion of public sector debt onto the balance sheets of government-owned enterprises and stopped making contributions to the Queensland public service defined benefit superannuation scheme – a radical and unprecedented step” said Mr Cripps.

“This year the Palaszczuk Government is not only failing to pay in its required contributions to the Queensland public service defined benefit superannuation scheme, it is actually withdrawing $4 billion from the fund to pay for the commitments it has made in this budget” he said.

Mr Cripps said Queenslanders needed to be aware that Labor’s budget forecasted the public service to blow out by almost 10,000 people over the next four years, with public sector employee expenses predicated to increase from 5.3 per cent to 7.3 per cent.

“This is completely unsustainable when Queensland’s population growth is currently only 1.25 per cent and when total debt is forecast to increase to almost $79 billion by 2019-20 – we should all be alarmed about what radical measures Labor will resort to in next year’s budget”.

“The Palaszczuk Government has also made some bold claims about Labor’s employment initiatives, but the budget papers still forecast unemployment to increase across Queensland to 6.25 per cent and remain at more than 6 per cent across the forward estimates”.

Mr Cripps said despite 20,000 jobs being lost in Queensland since Labor delivered its last budget and youth unemployment having sky-rocketed in North and Far North Queensland, the Palaszczuk Government’s only plan to create jobs was to employ more public servants.