Breaking down the LNP Queensland Government's core election promises

LNP leader David Crisafulli MP was named Premier of Queensland this past weekend – here’s a recap of some of the commitments his party made to voters during the election campaign.

The Sunshine State’s peak body for social services, QCOSS, has published each of the major parties’ responses to its seven election priorities.

With the last report on state finances logging a record operating surplus ($13.93 billion) and Queensland’s ranking on the CommBank’s ‘State of the States’ report jumping from fifth to third spot – QCOSS believes now is the right opportunity to act on the “crippling” pressure affecting household budgets.

Improve the sustainability of the Community Services Sector

The first election priority for QCOSS is for the State Government to ensure the financial stability of Queensland’s community services through fair procurement and contracting practices. LNP State Director Ben Riley told the body that Mr Crisafulli was pleased to confirm the party’s support for such measures during its ‘In Conversation’ event last month.

End Queensland’s housing crisis

QCOSS asks the state to bolster commitments made in the Homes for Queenslanders Plan to ensure every individual has a roof over their head by 2032, by investing in permanent supportive housing and making renting fair.

Mr Riley highlighted that the LNP’s ‘Securing our Housing Foundations‘ plan would deliver one million homes by 2044, including 53,500 social and community homes.

“Increasing housing supply is the only way we will solve the Queensland housing crisis,” he added. “In the [then-] leader of the opposition’s budget reply speech in June, the LNP committed to guaranteeing a 20 per cent uplift in funding to Specialist Homelessness Services across the next four financial years.”

The party’s plan claims it will also:

• Abolish stamp duty for all new homes; for first home buyers
• Raise the stamp duty concession threshold in full for existing homes, up to $700,000 and partially up to $800,000, for first home buyers
• ‘Boost to Buy’ with a new shared equity home ownership program designed to close the deposit gap “for buyers without access to the bank of mum and dad”
• Build one million extra houses by 2044, make new regional plans and fast-track approvals
• Remove restrictions preventing first home buyer grant recipients from renting out rooms, and opening up rental supply
• Build 10,000 new social and community homes on church and charity-owned land, unleashing the community housing sector, and clear targets to ramp up social housing
• Fast-track development approvals, safeguarding the materials and tradies “needed to build the homes for Queensland’s future”.

Reduce the cost of living

QCOSS asked the next government to improve access to financial counselling services, programs that reduce digital disadvantage, and participation for low-income households in Queensland’s energy transition.

Mr Riley asserts the party’s ‘Saving You Paying‘ plan will drive down the cost of living in the short and long term via measures including:

• Easing pressure on car, home and business insurance costs by getting crime under control
• Easing pressure on rents and mortgages by delivering more housing supply
• Easing pressure on transport and insurance costs by investing money into regional roads
• Easing pressure on home and business insurance costs by investing in natural disaster resilience projects
• Easing costs at the checkout by investing in skilling up workers to give businesses the capacity they need
• And lowering the cost of groceries by delivering water security for food producers.

The state director claims the party will also ensure power is “affordable, reliable and sustainable” by imposing an Energy Maintenance Guarantee on government-owned generators and putting a stop to the $24 billion Pioneer-Burdekin pumped hydro project, which they assert is going to “drive up power prices”.

Queensland’s new government has also committed to providing grants of up to $3500 towards the installation of solar panels on rental homes, and incentivising women to return to work with $5000 vouchers that “remove practical barriers” such as expensive childcare, workwear, transport and devices.

Give all children a good start

The body asked the new government whether it would support the growth of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community-controlled kindergartens across Queensland, and extend free kindy to three-year-olds. QCOSS also questioned whether the election winner would implement requests made in the ‘A Right to Learn‘ campaign, which are to “make suspensions a last resort” and “invest in evidence-based alternatives”.

This campaign called on the Queensland Government to conduct an inquiry into the use of school disciplinary absences in Queensland state schools after a freedom of information request revealed students with disability are disproportionately affected by unfair suspensions and expulsions.

In its response, the LNP told of its ‘More Teachers, Better Education‘ policy that includes:

• Freeing up teachers, with “25 per cent less red tape, 550 more teacher aides and support teachers, and more time in the classroom”
• A new anti-bullying campaign and boost to chaplaincy to keep classrooms safe
• More speech and occupation therapist care to help kids with learning difficulties
• And an additional 200 teachers each year to be trained in STEM or inclusive needs – “to help boost education outcomes”.

Invest in Queensland’s youth services

QCOSS asked if the next government would:

• Fund services that “respond to the root causes of problematic behaviour in children”
• Establish a comprehensive service system response for children under the age of 14 who are in contact with the youth justice system
• And ensure children leaving detentions are appropriately supported.

Mr Riley wrote in the party’s response that their ‘Making Our Community Safer‘ plan, developed over the past four years, bears policies that “address every stage of the crime cycle”.

“An LNP Government will re-engage kids who have fallen out of schooling and are at risk of falling into crime by providing mentoring, life skills and community connection,” he said.

“We will also fix our child safety system by providing 24-hour dual-carer supervision, increasing child safety officers by 20 per cent, piloting a professional foster care program, and steer kids out of trouble and into tutoring, sports and music with a $1500 increase to the yearly allowance for each child in out-of-home care.”

Advance women’s equality

For its penultimate priority, the peak body asked if the next Queensland Government would:

• Increase funding for domestic, family and sexual violence (DFV) services and women’s health services
• And expand gender responsive budgeting and procurement across the State Government.

The LNP’s state director declared the party was “serious about tackling domestic and family violence” – it will be trialling a new GPS tracker program for high-risk DFV offenders on domestic violence orders.

Mr Riley said they would also be rolling out three additional ‘Hope Hub’ recovery centres, as well as 10 new and replaced DFV shelters for vulnerable women and children. On top of this, the LNP has promised to double DVConnect, Womensline and Mensline capacity to support more DFV victims.

Continue the development of a human rights respecting culture in Queensland

QCOSS’ last question for the election winners was if they would:

• Ensure recent and ongoing reviews for matters like the Human Rights Act are appropriately responded to
• Continue with important reforms associated with QLD’s equality laws
• Support the Path to Treaty, including the Truth-telling and Healing Inquiry
• And appoint an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children’s Commissioner.

Concluding the LNP’s response, state director Ben Riley wrote that the party was committed to any legislated reviews of existing laws – but “does not support a Path to Treaty”.

Instead he affirmed the party would “work with Indigenous communities to find a better way forward and improve the lives of Indigenous Queenslanders”.