The Queensland Government has allocated $107.262 billion over the next four years, dubbing the period as “Queensland’s Big Build”.
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Announced in the Government’s 24-25 budget, the funding is set to be directed toward decarbonising Queensland’s energy grid, expanding health capacity, and preparing the state for the Brisbane 2032 Olympics and Paralympics Games.
“With our flagship Big Build program delivering $107.262 billion worth of infrastructure investment over the next four years,” said Queensland’s Deputy Premier and Treasurer, Cameron Dick, “this Budget makes significant additional investments to accommodate our rapid and higher than expected population growth, as well as seizing long-term opportunities to plan and build for Queensland’s future prosperity.”
As part of the Queensland Energy and Jobs Plan, the Government has allocated $26 billion over the next four years to deliver the infrastructure needed to successfully decarbonise. This includes $16.5 billion for renewable energy and storage projects, $8.5 billion for transmission infrastructure, $500 million for distribution network storage, and $192 million to develop transmission and training hubs across the state.
In order to cope with the growth in Queensland’s population as well as geographical spread that, according to the ABS, saw Queensland’s population increase by 141,400 people, the Government has allocated significant funding to “critical infrastructure projects”. This entails $5.5 billion to the construction of the Direct Sunshine Coast Rail Line, $3.026 billion for the Coomera Connector (Stage One), just under $3 billion for the Bruce Highway upgrade, $1.219 billion for Stage Three of the Gold Coast Light Rail, and $5.75 billion for the Logan and Gold Coast Faster Rail. Of all these projects, the Bruce Highway Upgrade is the only one to not receive joint funding from the Federal Government.
The program of works detailed in Queensland Transport and Roads Investment Program represents a $37.4 billion investment over the 4 years from 2024–25 to 2027–28.
According to the Queensland Government, for FY24-25, the $27.1 billion capital program will directly support approximately 72,000 jobs across the state, with 50,000 of those jobs located outside of the Greater Brisbane Region.
The Queensland Budget can be read in full here, while more details about Queensland’s Big Build can be read here.