Queensland Treasurer Cameron Dick has today announced the lowest increase to fees and charges for more than a decade.
The Treasurer said the annual increase of 1.8 per cent will apply from July 1.
“Last year, the Palaszczuk Government reduced the annual indexation of fees and charges from the 3.5 per cent introduced under the LNP to 2.25 per cent,” the Treasurer said.
“This year, indexation is lower still, at 1.8 per cent – almost half the rate at which fees and charges escalated under the LNP.”
Under the new schedule, Queenslanders are set to save $3.7 million on car registration, relative to the previous indexation rate.
“Queensland’s indexation for car registration will be lower than the latest increase in New South Wales rego fees of 1.9%.
“Queensland continues to be one of the cheapest places in Australia to register a vehicle,” the Treasurer said.
The registration costs for a four-cylinder vehicle for private use, including CTP insurance, will be $744.45 for 12 months, an increase of just 14 cents a week relative to last year.
The 1.8% indexation rate aligns with growth in Queensland’s Consumer Price Index for the year to March 2020, the most recently available published data, and is lower than the 1.9% recently announced by the South Australian Liberal Government.
It will also be less than the 2.75% rate of inflation that the Reserve Bank of Australia is currently forecasting for 2020-2021.
The Treasurer said the Palaszczuk Government had provided more than $6 billion to Queensland households and businesses in COVID-19 support and recovery since February.
As part of its COVID-19 response, the Government is providing relief on the cost of household utilities.
“Each Queensland household is receiving $200 to offset the costs of power and water costs to help cover the pressure of increased home time during the early stages of the Government’s COVID-19 response,” the Treasurer said.
“As of 10 June, 1.36 million households have received a total of $272 million in direct rebates on their electricity bills.”
The reduction in the government indexation rate means that Queenslanders will save on a number of government fees and charges, including $750,000 in land titling fees, $550,000 in traffic improvement fees, $380,000 in public transport fares and more than $350,000 in driver licence fees.
In addition, the Queensland Government provides more than $5.7 billion in a series of household bill relief schemes and concessions, to assist Queenslanders in managing their day to day budgets. This includes:
- Concessions on the costs of rates and water;
- Electricity and gas rebates for eligible people on a Pensioner Concession Card, Department of Veterans’ Affairs Gold Card, Queensland Seniors Card, Commonwealth Health Care Card, and asylum seekers;
- Medical and disability concessions for items such as medical aids and equipment, dental, optical and hearing services, electricity life support, medical cooling and heating;
- A series of transport-related concessions such as for the cost of bus, rail, ferry and taxi fares; school transport and vehicle and boat registration;
- Education and training concession such as child care fees and benefits, schools scholarships and awards, rural and remote support, Indigenous scholarships, further education training and with apprenticeships and traineeships.
Details and eligibility criteria can be found by visiting https://www.qld.gov.au/community/cost-of-living-support/concessions
