The LNP Opposition today called on Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk to rule out a raft of sneaky new taxes on Queenslanders to pay for Labor’s Cross River Rail project.
Acting Opposition Leader Deb Frecklington said Labor's secret business case for the project revealed the Palaszczuk Government planned brand new taxes to fund the construction of Cross River Rail which is set to cost a total of almost $10 billion, not the $5.4 billion claimed by the government.
“Plans for a congestion tax to raise $1.2 billion are contained in Labor's secret business case to pay for Cross River Rail along with increased car registration fees and other new taxes and charges,” Ms Frecklington said.
“The Premier tried to conceal the plans for the six secret taxes when she released an edited version of the business case on Monday that deliberately hid the new taxes to pay for the project.
“Now it's been revealed that the business case proposes a congestion tax, rego hike, land taxes, a public transport infrastructure tax, higher public transport fares and higher rates to pay for Labor's Cross River Rail.
“The business case also reveals that the full cost of the Cross River Rail project, including on-going maintenance, is almost $10 billion, not the $5.4 billion cited by Labor.
“Why has Labor kept secret the true cost of the project and its plans to pay for it with six new taxes including a congestion tax and rego hikes?
“It’s now clear that all along Labor’s answer to filling the budget black hole for Cross River Rail was to slug Queenslanders.”
Ms Frecklington said Labor's hidden business case includes the following new taxes to fund CRR:
Shadow Treasurer Scott Emerson said Labor needed to make public its secret business case for Cross River Rail.
“It’s no wonder Labor has reneged on its election commitment to publicly release the full business case for Cross River Rail in an attempt to conceal the real cost of the project and its plans to slug Queenslanders to pay for it,” Mr Emerson.
“We now know what Treasurer Curtis Pitt meant when he said he wanted to ‘have a conversation with Queenslanders’ about higher taxes, and what his cabinet colleague Mark Bailey meant when he said Queenslanders should ‘watch this space’ when asked how Labor would pay for Cross River Rail.”
"Just like the raid on public service superannuation and increasing car rego twice the inflation rate, Labor always wants to make Queenslanders pay for its fiscal incompetence.”
