Queensland simply cannot afford the many tens of billions the Olympics will cost, when the coal industry is being strangled by one of the highest top royalty rates in the developed world, and exports are on the decline, the KAP leader Robbie Katter has said, raising the issue in State Parliament today, and drawing attention to the S&P credit downgrade.
Last week S&P cut Queensland’s credit rating from AA+ to AA, noting it is “… our view that Queensland’s budgetary performance will remain weak over the next few years as the state ramps up its infrastructure spending, resulting in debt being structurally higher than in the past”.
“Global credit agencies can see clear as day – the Olympics are a drain on Queensland’s economy. At the same time, the LNP refuses address Labor’s crippling coal royalties, shrinking the industry and stifling any expansion efforts,” Mr. Katter said.
“We need to be more vigilant than ever where we spend taxpayer’s money, with S&P raising the alarm.
“So, why are we going headlong into blindly spending on a two-week party, that won’t support wealth generating activities?
“We need to be thinking big on what our state is built on. Queensland is built on the coal industry, with mining companies previously paying a fair share, funding hospitals, schools, and roads. But Labor moved the dial to max, and LNP are refusing to even come to the negotiating power.
“Four years before the car industry closed in Geelong, people were still saying ‘everything’s ok’ but where are we now?
“The government must be laser focused on producing jobs, not just buying them in sugar hits like Olympics.
“Despite the spin from Ministers and the Premier about companies buying and selling existing mines, there is no pipeline of investment and development in Queensland. We’re going backwards!” Mr. Katter said.
In 2024-25, coal delivered $76 billion to the Queensland Gross State Product. Since 2022, global demand for metallurgical coal and iron have risen 4%, yet Queensland’s exports of metallurgical coal have fallen 2%.
“You simply cannot keep your foot on the largest export industry and expect them to continue producing more royalties to pay for Olympics,” the KAP leader said.
“We urgently need to be supporting our mines across the state with infrastructure like CopperString, driving more industry, not continuing to suffocate our largest exporter.
“Queensland is on a road to further downgrades if we don’t urgently reverse the trend of spending on ‘nice to haves,’ rather than on the real drivers of the state.
“The government has a good opportunity to say, let’s pull the Olympics in, and let’s be honest, we need to make real change to turn our economy around,” the KAP Leader said.
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