REMEMBER WHEN

GOLD COAST BULLETIN

Friday, May 15, 1998

STAMP duty was cut for people seeking to refinance their homes and for small businesses chasing cheaper funds.

The moves were among concessions in a state budget aimed to enhance the government’s election prospects.

The government planed to halve motor vehicle registration fees for seniors and further reduce land tax in a $16.1 billion budget which used revenue from the Suncorp-Metway sale to expand services.

There were no increases to other taxes or fees in Treasurer Joan Sheldon’s budget, which also pumped a record $4.8 billion into job-creating infrastructure projects.

The generally favourable response to the state budget, which provided more doctors, teachers and police, firmed up Premier Rob Borbidge’s thinking about an election date.

There was $214 million for upgrades to the M1 and $12.2 million for schools including a new Mt Tamborine High.

A further $10 million was committed to new facilities at Griffith University.

Opposition leader Peter Beattie rejected the budget as a vote-buying bid that failed the unemployed and would leave Queenslanders with a legacy of higher taxes.

But Mrs Sheldon said her third budget was neither porkbarrelling nor a big pre-election spend up as “extravagance and waste does not fool the public’’.

The government went to the polls on June 13 and were hit hard, losing power after just 2½ years. The Coalition lost 11 seats, with One Nation picking up the same number.

Labor formed power with the support of independent Peter Wellington.