Queenslanders are being showered with electricity bill relief, free kindy and a raft of other cost-of-living measures as soaring coal royalties powered the state budget to a historic surplus.
Treasurer Cameron Dick said the $12.3 billion (US$831 million) surplus for 2022/23 was the largest ever for any state or territory while declaring “help is on the way” for people struggling with rising inflation and interest rates.
“In this budget, our government will deliver greater and more widespread cost-of-living relief than any other government in Australia, state or federal,” he said as he handed down the budget on Tuesday.
Dick said the largesse was possible thanks to the government’s progressive royalties regime introduced last year, which brought in an extra $10.5b amid high coal and gas prices….