Qld budget 'unashamedly' targets regions

Regional Queenslanders are winners in Tuesday's 2019/20 state budget as the government ups the spending to keep local economies moving.

Queensland Treasurer Jackie Trad leaves a budget briefing.

Queensland Treasurer Jackie Trad says the state budget 'unashamedly' targets the regions. (AAP)

Regional Queenslanders have been "unashamedly" targeted in Treasurer Jackie Trad's second state budget.

It's a shift from last year's budget, which was pitched at "all Queenslanders".

The 2019/20 offering comes after Labor's thrashing in the federal poll in May at the hands of regional Queensland voters concerned about jobs.

Ms Trad is spending big on those who live outside of Brisbane to keep local economies moving. The budget includes a big ticket $49.5 billion infrastructure spend over four years.

"Today I deliver a Queensland budget unashamedly focused on our regions," she said on Tuesday.

She says the infrastructure spend would support an estimated 40,000 jobs around the state, with 25,500 of these jobs based outside of greater Brisbane.

In her address to state parliament on Tuesday, Ms Trad said the gap between unemployment in the regions compared to Brisbane had narrowed from 2.5 per cent to 0.7 per cent in recent years.

It's something she credited on the government's previous infrastructure spending.

"In the last year alone in regional Queensland jobs are being created twice as fast as the population is growing," Ms Trad said.

The budget will also include a one per cent rate cut for regional small business employers who can prove 85 per cent of their workers are in regional areas from July 1.

In the 12 months to April 2019, the value of Queensland exports was $85.2 billion - the thirteenth consecutive month of record-breaking exports largely from ports in regional locations.


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Published 11 June 2019 2:08pm
Source: AAP


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