Nita Green (Queensland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Queenslanders are good people, and we've been through a lot recently. We don't complain, but we do expect to get our fair share. After a decade of being ignored by the LNP, I'm really pleased to say that this budget is delivering for Queenslanders. In fact, we expect Queensland's funding to grow by $42.5 billion in 2028-29, and the budget revealed that we will be delivering $37.6 billion to Queensland in the next financial year.

What that means for Queenslanders is that every single taxpayer will receive a new tax cut. When you combine that with Labor's first round of tax cuts, the average benefit for Queensland taxpayers will be $2,494. Of course, Queenslanders will still receive savings from our cheaper medicines policy. Queenslanders are set to save $44 million with our cheaper medicines policy to reduce scripts down to $25. When it comes to students, students will be saving on their HELP debt, because we know that Queensland students will have an estimated $3.3 billion wiped from their loans—an average reduction of $5,357. We're also going to be opening 10 additional Medicare urgent-care clinics, including in Cairns North and across regional Queensland.

Importantly, we're also making the investments we need in infrastructure. Last night's budget delivered $7.2 billion to finally fix the Bruce, $225 million for the Barron River bridge, $200 million for the Rockhampton Ring Road, and $70 million for the Kennedy Developmental Road. And, of course, we've secured $87.5 million to support the Cairns Water Security Project. (Time expired)