Qld Labor promises state-owned power provider if elected

Queensland Labor has promised a publicly owned energy retailer alongside its proposed state-owned petrol stations should they be elected for a fourth term.

Premier Steven Miles made the announcement on Tuesday as the state’s official election campaign entered a second day.

“It’s simple – people before profits,” Mr Miles posted on social media, as the parliament has been dissolved and the government is in caretaker mode until the October 26 polling date.

“If my Labor team and I are elected this month, we will set up a new publicly owned power retailer to provide stronger competition, greater choice and cheaper prices for households statewide.”

He said the state-owned power scheme was “the first part” of a “cheaper energy plan” for the state.

“Thanks to our massive investment in renewables, Queensland’s wholesale power prices are already lower than in other states,” he said.

“The people’s provider will ensure households and businesses reap the benefits of that – not foreign shareholders.”

In the northern half of Queensland, state-owned corporation Ergon Energy has a monopoly, and the state government gives subsidies for consumers.

Mr Miles’ new provider would be funded within Energy Queensland’s existing budget and compete with Ergon.

“We know how important it is to make energy bills cheaper for Queenslanders. I’m doing what matters,” he said.

Both Mr Miles and LNP leader David Crisafulli have made the traditional trips straight to the regions as the election campaign period was ratified on Tuesday morning.

The Premier took off for Townsville on Tuesday and then Mackay on Wednesday, while Mr Crisafulli was in Cairns on Tuesday.

“My nonno came to Queensland to cut sugarcane in the 1960s and mum and dad still call his farm home today,” Mr Crisafulli posted to social media on Wednesday.

“That’s why I’m proud to announce the Sowing the Seeds of Farming Innovation Fund.”

The scheme would “supercharge” research, development and boost tech in the agricultural sector, he said.

Despite massive youth justice reforms in the past two years, the Liberal National Party is also pushing a suite of changes during this campaign.

The proposed changes would target early intervention for at-risk youths and increased funding for proven community-led programs.

One of the final things Mr Miles did before the government went into caretaker mode was announce the contract for two police helicopters in the skies of crime-riddled Townsville had been awarded.

But Wednesday’s announcement about Labor promising a state-owned energy retailer is the first major economic announcement of the campaign. And it follows on the heels of state-owned petrol stations being promised.

That $36m plan includes banning the large day-to-day price swings of retailers.

“This is an election commitment, so it hasn’t been produced by the public service,” Mr Miles said in August in an admission that the scheme had not been costed.