Scheme to help needy causes
AN LNP government would give $20m in business loans a year to “social entrepreneurs” whose start-ups look to address social problems while employing the state’s most vulnerable.
Opposition Leader David Crisafulli used his budget reply speech to pledge he would lead a centre-right party with “conviction and compassion” as he announced the Social Entrepreneurs Loan Scheme policy.
In what the LNP described as the biggest social enterprise scheme in Queensland’s history, loans worth up to $500,000 would be offered to start-ups like Orange Sky – which assists the homeless with access to washing machines – with repayments made after two years.
The scheme would be open to existing businesses wanting to scale up and those wanting to start and an independent body would assess applicants.
Deputy Opposition Leader David Janetzki said the scheme would change the lives of Queenslanders who needed it most, and create jobs.
“From Cooktown to Coolangatta, there are opportunities right now that could be scaled to move our unemployment numbers to where they need to be,” he said.
“Queenslanders living with a disability find it difficult to secure long-term employment,” Mr Janetzki said. “And 70 per cent of refugees struggle to find a job in their first year living in Australia. “I want the Queensland economy to work for everyone. “Jobs policy with heart and capitalism with a conscience.” The scheme would run as long as the LNP was in government.
Meanwhile, Mr Crisafulli said the state budget “lacks hope” and contained nothing to fix the broken health system, improve congestion frustrating motorists or help the “working homeless” struggling to find somewhere to live.
Mr Crisafulli said a budget should not be about “abstract numbers”, but “a demonstration” on how it would help everyday Queenslanders.
He said it would disappoint people who’d waited too long for an ambulance, businesses who couldn’t find workers, victims of crime, and those struggling to find rental properties during a migration influx.
“Queensland needs infrastructure built now to protect the lifestyles of people who already live here, and infrastructure to deliver jobs for those who are moving here,” he told the parliament.
He said the Palaszczuk government had failed to plan on multiple fronts and Queensland was in the grip of housing, health and congestion crises.
He said the government wanted “praise” for finally addressing a social housing crisis it had created.