Riding the boom: QLD budget 2016-17

14 June 2016

Queensland's Treasurer Curtis Pitt has delivered his second budget against the backdrop of a solidly performing economy.

According to the Treasurer, Queensland is expected to record the strongest economic growth of all states over the forecast period. This is on the back of a surge in exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) after a period in which the sector encountered some difficulties.

A recent EnergyQuest report reflects the more positive outlook for the industry, showing that the state's three major projects - Shell’s QCLNG project, Santos’s GLNG project and Origin Energy Conoco Phillips project - have exported 3.8 million tonnes of gas, more than the whole of Russia and worth approximately $1.7 billion in the March quarter of 2016.

State's gross state product (GSP) is estimated to increase by 3.5% in 2015-16, and 4% in 2016-17.

In a relatively conservative budget, delivering forcast net operating surpluses over the next four years totalling almost $3.5 billion ($845 million in 2016-17), there are some new expenditures targeting the state's innovation performance.

They include an additional $225 million committed for the Advance Queensland innovation scheme, as part of which $40 million are targeted at attracting businesses from interstate and overseas to Queensland.

This is a significant boost of the scheme, which was set up in the previous year's budget with $180 million. With now $405 million at its disposal, the innovation scheme is the state's prime vehicle to support the state's innovator community,through programs including:

• the Advancing Small Business Queensland Strategy ($22 million): an Office of Small Business will be established to deliver the strategy;
• the Platform Technology Program ($10 million);
• the Advance Queensland Industry Attraction Fund ($40 million);
• the Queensland Biofutures 10-year Roadmap and Action Fund ($19.7 million);
• the Cairns Innovation Centre ($10 million); and
• the Advance Queensland Connecting with Asia Strategy ($33.5 million).

Other measures of interest include:

• Almost $20 million over three years for the state's emerging biofutures industry, which the government hopes will become a $1 billion export sector via its 10-year roadmap and action plan; and
• $15 million for further improvements of the mobile coverage in Queensland, building on the State's $10 million contribution to round one of the federal Mobile Black Spot Program.