Palaszczuk stumbles on debt query
ANNASTACIA P a l a s z c z u k has failed to recall how much debt her government has repaid using dividends in her first blunder of the 2017 election campaign.
The Queensland Premier dodged questions about the debt reduction figure, despite her promise to use the profits of state- owned businesses to pay off debt being a central plank of Labor’s election manifesto three years ago.
Ms Palaszczuk refused to answer further queries about whether the state’s ballooning borrowing bill, forecast to break through the $ 80 billion barrier in three years, would be a priority if re- elected.
Business groups and economists are demanding both major parties produce policies before the November 25 poll to reduce debt and reclaim the state’s lost AAA credit rating, warning borrowings were adding pressure on taxes and leaving Queensland exposed to economic downturns.
When asked how much debt had been repaid using the dividends from state- owned assets, Ms Palaszczuk responded, “I’ll have to get that for you”, before she shut down any further questions on the issue.
The blooper has drawn comparisons with the Premier’s gaffe during the 2015 campaign when, during an FM radio interview, she could not recall the rate of the GST.
However, Ms Palaszczuk did insist Labor had succeeded in halting the debt trajectory forecast by the Newman government, saying borrowings were now $ 14 billion lower than predicted by the LNP.
“Of course, we are always going to do more,” she said. “But let’s be very clear, we have paid off $ 14 billion more than that was predicted by Tim Nicholls. We said that we would use the dividends from our assets to not only pay down the debt, but also to restore frontline services.
“Now what I have said very clearly is that the dividends from our energy assets will be used for making sure that our household bills will be no higher than inflation.”
Ms Palaszczuk’s comments sent her office scrambling for the debt repayment figure and eventually it claimed the Government had repaid $ 600 million by raiding additional dividends from electricity businesses.
“These dividends would have gone interstate or offshore under the LNP’s plan to sell assets,” the Premier’s spokesman said.
“This increase in the dividend payout ratio has no upward impact on electricity prices, which have been limited to rises of 1.9 per cent per annum on average over the three years.”