The December Quarter Consumer Price Index* reveals Queenslanders continue to suffer the biggest cost-of-living increases across the critical categories for households in Australia.
- Power prices are up 19.9% – the worst in the nation and triple the national average while one of our largest power plants remains offline after three years;
- Insurance costs are up 18.5% – due to the crime crisis and a lack of flood resilience;
- Water costs up 16.1% the worst in the nation off the back of State Government bulk water cost increases failing to build new dams and now tearing down the Paradise Dam;
- Groceries up 4.3%; and
- Transport costs up 4.2% with poor maintenance on our roads.
This is why the LNP called on the Palaszczuk-Miles Labor Government to expand the grocery price inquiry to also include these costs – putting the microscope on the rising costs the State Government controls while also holding the big supermarkets to account.
Sadly, the Palaszczuk-Miles Labor Government voted against this expanded inquiry.
What would an LNP Government do about the rising cost of living?
- Continue current cost of living rebates
- Supercharged Solar for Renter program – saving renters hundreds of dollars on their power bills
- First Home Owner stamp duty threshold increase – making is easier for first home buyers to get in the market
- Power Plant Maintenance Guarantee – to ensure power plants not offline for 1000 days like Callide power plant currently is
- Ensure the Housing Investment Fund is used to only build new homes, not buy existing homes – increasing the number of homes for Queenslanders to rent or buy
- Prioritise infrastructure partnerships with local governments to unlock more land for housing – housing lot approvals have fallen by over 25% since 2015
- Unleash the community housing sector to provide – Queensland is the only state or territory in Australia where community housing has gone backward
- Set targets to ensure social housing projects are delivered on time and on budget – there are now more than 40,000 people on the social housing wait list than 2015
Join our fight to expand the cost-of-living inquiry and SIGN THE PETITION HERE
*Source: Consumer Price Index, Australia, December Quarter 2023 | Australian Bureau of Statistics (abs.gov.au)
