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Queensland has received its first credit downgrade in almost twenty years, putting pressure on the state's massive infrastructure pipeline and Brisbane 2032 builds. The rating knock will further spiral staggering debt levels, but no responsibility is being taken by any level of government.

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00:01The 2032 games. Hospitals. Transport. Roads. A historic infrastructure pipeline with few
00:13price tags revealed, now partly responsible for a credit rating downgrade from AA plus
00:20to AA.
00:21It has been an inevitability for a very long time.
00:26It means debt is more expensive for the government, which means for taxpayers.
00:31More of the taxes that Queenslanders pay will be diverted to paying interest on that debt
00:37rather than paying for schools, hospitals, policing and other services people expect their
00:42state government to provide.
00:43Credit agency S&P has warned for years Queensland needed to rein in spending, noting the current
00:51government has maintained the spree of its Labor predecessors.
00:55David Crisofulli promised to spend more tax less and lower debt. It was impossible for
01:01him to do that and this is the inevitable outcome of those promises.
01:05The Crisofulli government inherited this situation, but so far it's done nothing to correct it
01:11and at the margin its decisions have made it worse.
01:15The credit agency says the government's cost saving measures are minor.
01:19S&P wanted us to raise taxes, reduce services and stop building. That's not going to happen.
01:27Changes to housing tax in the latest federal budget also hurting Queensland's bottom line.
01:32But prior to the downgrade, the federal treasurer came out swinging.
01:37David Janetsky frankly is lying when he says that the pressure on the state budget is because of the Commonwealth.
01:42For him to call me a liar this morning, it's pretty extraordinary for a federal treasurer.
01:48Without changes to taxes or services, debt will worsen. Already forecast to exceed $216 billion by
01:582029-30. David Janetsky says he'll continue to target budget improvements, but taxpayers will
02:06eventually have to foot the bill.
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