By Deputy Opposition Leader and Member for Woodridge Cameron Dick
Logan residents have been left without the meaningful cost-of-living relief they were promised in the recent state budget, with the Crisafulli LNP Government failing once again to ease pressure on household finances while asking families to pay more and get less.
Despite increases in the cost-of-living including housing costs, rents and grocery and fuel costs, the budget delivered no substantial cost-of-living relief for working Queenslanders.
While other states are introducing measures to put money back into people’s pockets, including a reduction in motor vehicle registration costs, Queensland families have been left with little more than broken promises.
Locally, Logan has once again been overlooked.
The construction of the new Logan Central Police Station, promised in last year’s budget, remains in the slow lane.
Calls for additional anti-hooning cameras, a dedicated police Rapid Action Patrol Group and a permanent aerial firefighting appliance for the city have also gone unanswered.
Support for vulnerable residents has also been ignored, with no funding allocated to the progress the Woodridge Night Village, a proposal that would help provide overnight assistance for people living without a home.
Very disappointingly, the budget also contained no commitment to restore the active transport corridor originally included in the Logan Gold Coast Faster Rail Project, despite strong community support for safer cycling and walking connections.
In fact, Logan barely rated a mention, with the Treasurer failing to reference the city once during his budget speech.
The Crisafulli Government has also imposed a “bin tax”, passing on the state’s waste levy directly to households, a move that will leave Logan ratepayers footing the bill while raising hundreds of millions of dollars for the LNP government.
As Logan Mayor Jon Raven said, the LNP government ‘doesn’t have a waste strategy, they have a tax strategy.’
For Logan families already battling rising living costs, this budget contains next to no help.
It is instead a budget of blowouts and broken promises that takes more from Queenslanders and gives them less.
After two budgets, the Crisafulli LNP Government has established a clear pattern: high household costs, fewer local investments, and no real plan to deliver the cost-of-living relief Queenslanders were promised.
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