Treasurer's message

Fellow Queenslanders, the 2013-14 State Budget focusses on three essential elements:

Growth, rebuilding and resilience.

As a Government, we are concentrating on growing our economy, rebuilding Queensland, and making our communities more resilient.

With floods, cyclones and storms battering Queensland communities year after year, the Government is determined, not just to rebuild Queensland, but to increase our resilience to natural disasters.

Just as we're working hard to rebuild damaged infrastructure, we're also working hard to rebuild the State's finances, and make the Budget more resilient to the financial challenges we face.

Right across the world, and in every Australian state, governments of all persuasions are experiencing massive falls in revenue.

Queensland is not immune, with our revenue falling by more than $4.5 billion since March last year.

This makes the task of getting the Budget back on track that much harder.

But we will not lose sight of our goal.

Rebuilding the State's finances is vital if we are to deliver better services to the people of Queensland into the future.

In this Budget, we've strived to get the balance right between the revenue Government can raise, and the services it can deliver.

We are investing heavily in giving children a better education, through our Great Teachers=Great Results plan, injecting a record amount into healthcare, and increasing funding to assist people with disabilities and their carers.

This year, the Budget has also been framed in the context of the final report of the independent Commission of Audit.

As the Government implements the report, we're looking for the best ways to deliver the quality services that Queenslanders expect and deserve.

This Budget is a demonstration of our commitment to fix the State's finances and grow a stronger Queensland, so that we remain a great State, with great opportunities.