Below is an extract from an email sent out by the Australia Institute after the Queensland budget:
‘Queensland spent $9.5 billion in taxpayer dollars on subsidies for the mining and fossil fuel industries over six years; far more than any other state. Eight billion of that went to coal. During that time, Queensland’s spending on social services, like hospitals, schools and social housing has trailed the rest of the nation.
‘First the good news: the Palaszczuk Government has edged away from the last government’s promise to bankroll the construction of coal railways to the Galilee Basin and to fund major dredging of the Abbot Point coal port next to the Great Barrier Reef. They’ve also been able to make modest increases in per capita funding of health and education in Queensland.
‘Now the bad news: handouts to the fossil fuel industry are set to continue. The latest state budget includes: $100 million dollars to expand the coal terminal at Gladstone; around $150 million benefit from cheap access to rail and port facilities; $14 million “to continue port planning and development initiatives to meet industry requirements for coal export facilities.” That’s basically the same amount it would cost to fix the $268 million public schools maintenance backlog.’