This is a disappointing budget of blowouts, broken promises, cancelled affordable housing approvals, and generational delays on much-need infrastructure investments.

Today, Queensland faces a projected shortfall of nearly 35,000 construction workers by 2027-28 at a time when we need homes, hospitals, schools, roads, rail and Olympic and Paralympic Infrastructure. Business confidence is at a 20-year low, and Queenslanders can’t trust the Government’s crime figures.

Queensland Labor will back our tradies by waiving rego fees for eligible construction trade apprentices – a $94 million initiative across four years. This will encourage small and family businesses to take on an apprentice; their workplace supervisor’s rego will be waived too. This plan will save an apprentice and their supervisor up to $2,360 over the lifetime of an apprenticeship.

The previous Labor government delivered record investment in our local schools, roads, and public transport infrastructure, and a future Labor government will do that again. We will also set up an independent crime stats bureau because Queenslanders deserve truth and transparency rather than dodgy data by the LNP.