A budget that’s big on debt and low on the sugar hits has been revealed by Queensland’s new Liberal National Party Government, which says it is facing the biggest redistribution of GST revenue in Australian history.

Treasurer David Janetzki handed down the 2025-26 Budget in Queensland’s Parliament on Tuesday afternoon, his first since the LNP won the election in October.

Earlier that morning, 7NEWS headed into the lock-up to dig through the budget papers.

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It was busier-than-normal at parliament, even for a sitting week, with dozens of journalists converging on the house.

7News State Political Editor Marlina Whop leads the way and we take our seats on one of four long tables inside the room, before bundles of plastic-wrapped budget documents and brochures are handed out.

The media have 30 minutes to get started before the Treasurer enters to give a presentation.

We then keep pouring over the papers until a midday press conference.

The budget shows that cost of living relief has been scaled back and Queenslanders will receive a modest number of sweeteners.

For families, there’s a $100 Back to School voucher to cover the cost of primary school essentials each year and previously announced $200 Play On! sports vouchers.

For years, Queenslanders have received an electricity rebate in the state budget, which ended under the new government.

However, the Electricity Rebate Scheme for vulnerable households will continue and increase by 3.8 per cent from $372 to $386 in 2025-26.

“This modest cost of living relief, frozen by the former government in 2022, will be indexed every year under the Crisafulli Government,” Janetzki tells parliament in his budget speech.

Homeownership is a key focus of the 25-26 budget and, from July 1, first home buyers will be able to register their interest in a new government shared equity scheme.

The government says it will help reduce the deposit gap, meaning a first home buyer with a deposit of just $15,000 could buy a home valued at $750,000.

There are only 1000 spots up for grabs over two years, but the government says the program could be expanded if there is strong interest.

Asked whether the program could make housing more expensive and encourage people to spend more than they would otherwise be able to afford, the treasurer refused to accept that the initiative won’t get people into homes.

Janetzki argued people would still have to go through normal lending processes.

“There are the normal lending criteria, the normal credit practices that must be adopted, and so they will be assessed in the usual way,” he said.

The Crisafulli Government has its own debt to shoulder, too.

Total debt will skyrocket over the next four years to a record $205.7 billion by 2028-29.

It’s more than $30 billion dollars higher than last year’s budget forecast under the former Labor government, but lower than the $218 billion dollar figure the LNP predicted in the Mid-Year Fiscal Economic Review.

An $8.6 billion deficit is predicted in 2025-26 before falling in the forward estimates to $1.1 billion by 2028-29.

The treasurer blamed a hit to revenues from coal royalties and a GST reduction, arguing the government is stepping in to save projects and deliver jobs.

“We are front loading the investments into jobs and services now in this budget so Queenslanders can reap the benefits sooner,” Janetzki told media in the budget lock-up.

“We made a range of commitments at the election. We’ve seen a range of services that were left unfunded by the former government that we have stepped in to fund.”

‘None of the promised cost of living relief’

The Labor Opposition has defended their record in government.

“When we left office we had a stable rating from ratings agencies, that’s a fact,” Shadow Treasurer Shannon Fentiman said.

“We had a (debt) figure of $172 billion, that’s a fact.

“We have now had an outlook downgrade since the LNP have been in office, since they handed down MYFER, and we now have a debt figure that’s higher despite them promising it would be lower.

“There is none of the promised cost of living relief.”

In the LNP budget, $18 million will be saved with a hiring freeze on bosses in the public service.

Government fees and charges are increasing by 3.4 per cent and a 20 per cent discount on car registration is ending in September, which means most drivers will pay an extra $10-20.

The health operating budget has also increased by 10 per cent to $29.4 billion dollars.

$18.5 billion will go to the Hospital Rescue Plan and more than $3 billion will go to tackle ambulance ramping in the 2025-26 budget.

There’s also a new Surgery Connect program that will aim to slash the elective surgery waiting list by 30,000 patients.

The Australian Medical Association praised the Government’s commitment to 4,500 health workers in 2025-26, while the Queensland Teachers Union slammed budgeted pay rises for frontline workers, as tense talks with unions on enterprise bargaining agreements continue.

On Tuesday afternoon, more than 100 teachers rallied outside the gates of parliament, calling for a better pay offer from the government.

“What’s currently on the table gets us third lowest paid teachers in the country and that does not recruit and does attract people to this profession in Queensland,” QTU spokesperson Cresta Richardson said.

The Opposition will deliver its budget reply on Thursday.