CommSec’s State of the States quarterly report has today revealed Queensland’s economic performance is trailing behind the rest of Australia in sixth place.
Overall, the report revealed Queensland is only ahead of Western Australian and the Northern Territory.
The report came out the same day as NAB’s latest Business Survey results which revealed Queensland now has the lowest business confidence in the nation.
LNP Shadow Treasurer Tim Mander said Queensland is now fighting for the nation’s economic wooden spoon after years of financial mismanagement by Labor and Treasurer Jackie Trad.
“We should be competing with NSW and Victoria to lead Australia but we continue to slip under the failed policies of the current Labor Government,” Mr Mander said.
“This a direct result of Labor not having an economic plan other than increased taxes and higher unemployment.
Mr Mander said business confidence in Queensland continued to languish after Labor hit the economy with five new taxes last year.
“We have 165,000 Queenslanders out of work and looking for a job and the second highest unemployment rate in the nation,” Mr Mander said.
“If Annastacia Palaszczuk had the slightest grip on unemployment and the needs of our economy we wouldn’t be in this situation.
“The only thing stopping us from plummeting to the bottom of the economic ladder is new dwelling starts but that will be hit by the impacts of Labor’s new waste tax in the coming months.
“It’s no wonder Queensland businesses now have the lowest confidence in the nation, after experiencing the sharpest drop in confidence out of any state or territory from the same time last year.
“Queensland is stagnating, the community is crying out for leadership and we have a government driving the economy backwards.
“Only the LNP have a plan to restore business confidence, create jobs and put Queensland back into the top ranks of the states’ leader board.”
