The Queensland Treasurer, Tim Nicholls, has delivered a State Budget with a projected surplus of $188 million, the first surplus in a decade.

Nicholls said surpluses were also predicted in each year of the forward estimates. “No longer will Queensland have to go cap in hand to financiers meekly asking for loans,” Nicholls said. “We will have stopped the long descent into debt that Labor charted with its locked in deficits of the last half dozen years.”

Government expenses will grow by 2.2% in the current financial year, following growth of 0.2% in 2012-13.

Nicholls said: “The Budget I present today is not one of flashy new announcements and programs. It is not a Budget of big headlines or irresponsible spending sprees. It is a Budget that is right for the times.” [Read more…]