The secret taxes Labor won’t talk to Queenslanders about

• Palaszczuk Government once again refuses to rule out sneaky new taxes to fund Cross River Rail (CRR)
• Jackie Trad told Estimates hearings she is ‘having a conversation with Queenslanders’ but refused to answer questions
• Labor using Queenslanders as a piggy bank.

The Palaszczuk Labor Government have once again refused to tell Queenslanders how they will be slugged to pay for their controversial Cross River Rail project.

Deputy Opposition Leader and Shadow Infrastructure Minister Deb Frecklington said Infrastructure Minister Jackie Trad today refused to reveal what secret taxes the government planned to introduce despite being given numerous opportunities to do so.

“Jackie Trad was asked repeatedly in Estimates today to rule out any new fees or taxes to fund CRR but failed to do so,” Ms Frecklington said.

“All this from a Minister who in the same breath said she wanted to have a ‘conversation’ with Queenslanders.

“Labor needs to come clean with Queenslanders about its plan to introduce sneaky new taxes to pay for Cross River Rail.”

Ms Frecklington said Labor’s Cross River Rail project had become an absolute disaster.

“Labor’s Cross River Rail means secret taxes, flooded stations and tunnels without trains,” she said.

“What we do know is there is a $4.6 billion black hole in funding after the true cost of CRR blew out to almost $10bn.

“This fiscally incompetent government is hell bent on swindling Queenslanders.”

Labor's hidden business case includes the following new taxes to fund CRR:

• Congestion tax paid for by motorists = $1.2 billion
• Motor vehicle registration levy paid for by motorists = $1.22 billion
• Land tax on nearby property owners = $1 billion
• Public transport infrastructure tax paid for by property owners = $2.6 billion
• Ticket surcharge paid for public transport users = $1.08 billion
• Higher rates on nearby property owners = $285 million

TRANSCRIPT FROM TODAY’S ESTIMATES:

DEB FRECKLINGTON: When did the Deputy Premier first present her cost sharing policy to Cabinet?

JACKIE TRAD: Obviously the deliberations of Cabinet are a confidential matter including the business case of the Cross River Rail.

The State Infrastructure Plan did go to Cabinet and was released in March this year and there is a whole section on value capture.

Value capture and value sharing is a very important issue.

We are undertaking an investigation into value sharing, we are having a conversation with the community about value sharing.