Today’s Budget represents yet another missed opportunity for Queensland to attract the private sector investment the state desperately needs to create new jobs and facilitate new revenue streams.
“With COVID-19 drastically impacting economies around the globe, there has never been a more important time for the Queensland Government to focus on unlocking the capacity of the private sector to accelerate the state’s economic rebuild,” Property Council Queensland Executive Director, Chris Mountford said.
“Queensland’s biggest competitors- New South Wales and Victoria- have adopted big thinking, and ambitious budgets that focus on infrastructure, tax incentives and major reforms with the unashamed intention of spurring on private sector investment,” Mr Mountford said.
“What we have seen today in Queensland is a budget that doesn’t tackle this challenge. It’s more ‘business as usual’ than a budget for unprecedented times.
“The lack of action on Build to Rent is a prime example of a missed opportunity to attract job-generating investment into Queensland. New South Wales and Victoria have both halved land tax for these projects and removed foreign surcharges to attract institutional investment. Put simply, a decision not to match these incentives in Queensland means we are letting southern states win the fight for job-generating investment.
“These targeted incentives will create new revenue streams, while delivering much-needed construction jobs and quality rental accommodation. With Queensland set to be the beneficiary of unprecedented interstate migration, this is exactly the type of private sector projects we should be seeking to attract.
“Our handling of the health crisis has put Queensland at an advantage over the other states in allowing us to get ahead in planning our economic rebuild. Sadly, instead of capitalizing on this advantage, today’s Budget has placed us squarely at the back of the pack when it comes to investment attraction.”
