$10.8 Billion in Debt: Analyst Explains How the State Election Has Affected the Queensland Budget

The budget released on June 11 marked the start of the 2024 state election campaign, according to a leading financial analyst. John Humphreys is the chief economist for the Australian Taxpayers’ Alliance and was a former treasury official working in the Budget Policy Division. He believes the budget’s sweeteners—including $1,000 (US$660) electricity hand-outs, increased $200 sporting vouchers for children, a 20 percent discount on car registration, and 50 cent public transport are dead giveaways of a short-term budget made to woo voters. “The nine-year-old Queensland Labor government is behind in the polls, and are attempting to buy back some support,” Mr. Humphreys told The Epoch Times in a statement....