Half of Queensland voters want to see the state cut spending if it is to embark on the budget repair needed to address the debt and deficit issues that drove last month’s first credit rating downgrade in 17 years.
New Resolve Political Monitor polling for this masthead also shows that voters’ views of One Nations’ economic management do not align with the party’s heightened support in the state.
The survey comes at the halfway point of the parliamentary term as both major parties shift their gaze to the 2028 state election, with a still-popular government and an ascendent One Nation in striking range of a lagging Opposition.
But despite its heightened share of the primary voting intention in the state steadying at above 20 per cent, only 13 per cent of voters believe One Nation would be the best party to handle the state’s budget, rising slightly to 15 per cent in marginal seats.
A total of 35 per cent of voters named the Crisafulli LNP government as the better economic managers, while 21 per cent selected Steven Miles’ Labor.
Only 8 per cent chose “someone else”, with 22 per cent saying they were undecided or that no party would be best. The survey involved 434 registered voters and was conducted between October 6 and 10.
In September, ratings agency S&P Global announced it had downgraded the state from AA+ to AA amid heightened deficits driven by Olympic infrastructure spending and economic headwinds.
While Treasurer David Janetzki, at the time, reiterated his belief that the outcome was the inevitable result of the former Labor government’s actions, he also conceded his government had shied away from politically sensitive actions that the agency – and economists – say would help.
“Although S&P would have preferred Queensland to raise taxes, reduce services and stop building, those are decisions we are not willing to make,” Janetzki said in a statement.
In the context of the rating downgrade and justification for this, voters were asked to choose their preference among a list of potential options for attempting to reduce debt and the deficit if the state government were to attempt to do so.
A total of 49 per cent nominated reducing spending as their preference, with privatising, selling or leasing assets a distant second at 12 per cent, and an increase in taxes and charges supported by 10 per cent of those surveyed.
Another 29 per cent preferred neither of those three options, or were unsure. The split was almost identical among those in marginal seats.
While leveraging state assets was viewed similarly by both LNP and Labor voters, government backers leant further towards reducing spending (55 per cent) and away from increasing taxes (5 per cent) than the broader group or those in marginal seats.
Labor voters had a slightly greater preference for increasing taxes (16 per cent) and reduced support for lower spending (43 per cent).
The LNP’s flagship $6.8 billion promised crackdown on consultant and contractor spending has so far failed to materialise, with such spending instead pushing beyond no-longer-mentioned caps.
Despite this, the government has insisted such goals have been met, while Queensland’s top treasury official has claimed cabinet secrecy prevents him from detailing how.
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