David Crisafulli would not say how much his government would have to borrow to fund it’s election promises and the details would not be revealed until 2 days before the election, the same day the election advertising blackouts come into force.

# Crisafulli says LNP won’t control public service wage explosion

David Crisafulli has no plans to control public sector salary growth, despite the bureaucracy wage bill ballooning by more than 75 per cent in a decade under Queensland’s Labor government.Crisafulli says LNP won’t control public service wage explosion

The LNP leader would not say how much his government would have to borrow to fund its election promises, despite a [warning from S&P that rising debt](https://archive.is/o/Qf1RL/https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/queensland-election-labors-populist-splurge-toput-states-creditrating-at-risk/news-story/4f20daf21dd630a9e97f79c17cdb3d34) to fund government operations or infrastructure commitments could risk the state’s AA+ credit [rating.Mr](http://rating.Mr) Crisafulli said details would not be revealed until next Thursday – two days before the October 26 election – but he reiterated his preference to borrow for capital projects, and said an LNP government would target operational [surpluses.Mr](http://surpluses.Mr) Crisafulli made the comments on Tuesday while campaigning in Ipswich West where the LNP is fighting to hold on to the seat that it holds on a margin of 3.5 per cent following the March by-election, when the electorate fell to the Opposition after a double-digit swing against Labor.S&P Global Ratings analyst Anthony Walker told The Australian that the state’s AA+ rating was confirmed in early September on the expectation that debt levels would peak at about 140 per cent of operating revenues and the budget would remain in cash surplus. That credit rating would be at risk if the government funds its commitments through borrowing.“If we did see a lot of new spending funded through debt, whether it’s operating or infrastructure spending, we would see bigger deficit and higher debt than we’re currently expecting,” Mr Walker said.“We could see a risk to the credit rating if the fiscal performance underperforms our forecasts, which were based on the budget, or if debt levels rise beyond our forecasts and any unfunded commitments that had been announced in the budget could be driving those.”Mr Crisafulli said the state’s AAA credit rating, lost under the Bligh Labor government in 2009, would only be restored if the government changed hands, but did not say how or when.“Our plan is to get rid of a really bad government, because otherwise it’s going to keep sliding,” he said.

[The Australian last week also revealed the wage bill](https://archive.is/o/Qf1RL/https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/queensland-public-service-wage-bill-up-75-per-cent-under-labor/news-story/532dbc15e996b0653ae2417926c8aef0) had increased from $19.96bn for 209,999 full-time equivalent public servants in 2015-16, to $35.22bn for 266,999 in this year’s budget, an increase of 57,000 full-time ­positions in the public service since Annastacia Palaszczuk was elected in January 2015.Asked whether he would consider voluntary redundancies or a hiring freeze for non-frontline public sector workers, Mr Crisafulli said he wanted every public servant to “understand that they are going to be part of the change”.“I’ve spoken about a world-class public service, and Queenslanders, at the moment, are suffering from an absolute disintegration of frontline service delivery, and right now, we need every public servant to understand that if change happens, they can be part of the change in delivering the services free from the dead hand of government, and that’s our commitment to them,” he said.He has been dogged by Labor attacks accusing him of planning to cut public servants, after he was part of the one-term Newman government ministry that slashed 14,000 FTE public servants between 2012 and 2015.He has ruled out forced redundancies.Deputy leader of the LNP Jarrod Bleijie attacked the Labor government for what he called a “whopping great black hole” of its planned Pioneer-Burdekin pumped hydro project, which has been estimated to cost anywhere between $12bn and $24bn, and questioned where the money was coming from.But Mr Bleijie was not able to say how much the LNP’s replacement pumped hydro scheme, which would involve smaller plants, would cost.“All will be revealed in our costings when they’re released,” he said.The LNP’s costings will not be released until the Thursday before the election on October 26, despite early voting opening on Monday. More than 120,000 Queenslanders [have already voted](https://archive.is/o/Qf1RL/https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/prepoll-booths-open-for-early-bird-voters-in-queensland-ahead-of-october-26-election/news-story/90a687f73ddbfc765a9fccaed7e4e345).Mr Crisafulli said there would not be any new taxes under a LNP government, and he would abolish two taxes: a yet-to-be-introduced payroll tax for GPs, and stamp duty for first-home buyers.Labor has also said it would legislate against the GP payroll tax.The LNP was in Ipswich West on Tuesday to kick off a day focused on youth crime, the issue the Opposition believes is resonating most with voters.Meeting with African community leaders in Walloon, Mr Crisafulli said one of the party’s proposed early intervention schools would be set up in Ipswich, as well as a [canoeing camp for kids who wag school or graffiti](https://archive.is/o/Qf1RL/https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/lnp-leader-david-crisafullis-50m-anticrime-canoe-camps/news-story/e42fcb1dbce10a5afbe611b913191eb1).

We are so screwed

The first thing they do is relax royalties and taxes for their sponsors which means our treasury goes backwards and Qlders have to pick up all of the tab for these jokers.

Its this sort of nonsense that really puts me off the LNP.

Just be honest and straight forward with the public you fuckheads.

Listened to the Shadow Treasurer on 612 this morning, after 15 mins Steve Austin started to sound very frustrated