‘Is the Queensland Government Bankrupt: if so when will they declare it? Urgent rectification appears is needed’

?

TITLE

‘Is the Queensland Government Bankrupt: when will they declare it? Urgent rectification appears is needed’

?TARGET AUDIENCE

Anyone who is interested in reading this.

?INTRODUCTION

## 17/5 I made some minor changes since I published yesterday. I wanted to see to what extent Queensland Investment Corporation was generating gross and nett income. It was set up to fund Public Service Retirees. Something is drastically wrong with their numbers. See comments and Screen Shots at end of article.

This is a somewhat a provocative title.

?For quite a long time I have had a strong feeling that Queensland and Australian Governments are hopelessly out of control; they are being grossly mismanaged and that it needs to be addressed.

?To satisfy my curiosity I started to do some research. Rest assured, on the information I uncovered and analysed, we have a serious problem!

?Our Government (bureaucrats and politicians) in my opinion are simply keeping the seats warm; we The People are the MUGS financing unbelievably lavish lifestyles, perks, etc. This is akin to a heist it could be that bad!

?And if Queensland is doing it: NSW is in on the action; so is Victoria; SA; WA and other States and Territories.

?If State Governments are doing it: so are Local Councils. And so are the FEDS. And my findings I have tried as best I can to link back to Germany and the UK who I believe might have some of the best data available. Make no mistake, there are documents available showing that each Government is looking in the rear-view mirror of the other to justify their pay scales; where are their independent reference points and or checks and balances as I am introducing into my arguments?

?Why do I as Citizen X or John Doe have to do the analysis; to reach my Conclusions and write an article like this.

Because I care! And I / we The People are paying for it. HOW? Absolutely monster debt levels; sharply deteriorating debt to equity levels; wages and Government Employment levels that are simply going up! And it seems that Off Balance Sheet Utilities (power, water, land taxes, rates, rego, monster road tolls, etc.) go up and up. ?

A few months back I tried to link our high House Prices as another form of taxes imposed by Local, State and the Federal as an indirect form of tax.

Why was the RBA Governor so reluctant to increase interest rates? Ha I might have it; he would slow that party down.

And without the blink of eye our so-called Leaders trot out whatever they want to: meek opposition(s) accept the Status Quo. There are NO HARD QUESTIONS; THERE IS NO ACCOUNTABILITY; AUDITOR GENERALS GET DROWNED OUT; CRIMINAL INVESTIGATONS GET NIL JAIL TIME; there is no money for services (and or money is chucked around with gay abandon). And Day to Day, Week to Week, Year to Year the Status Quo is becoming exponentially bad.

And WE ARE EXPECTED TO FINANCE A SEXY 2032 OLYMPIC GAMES dreamed up on a Cigarette Packet and sold to the Olympic Committee with much fanfare who did not need a proposal at all; a ONE Expression of Interest on ONE page would do. And Queensland won the prize!

And we are expected to redevelop a pretty New Stadium at current estimates (without monster disruption in our southern suburbs) equivalent to something like $265,000 per additional seat!

So lets get back to the analytics: just how BAD is it?

And one more question: where is the Media in the mix? Why does John Doe have to raise these questions? ???

ANALYTICS: THE OVERALL COUNTRY (USE UK AND GERMANY AS A REFERENCE POINT)

Australia’s tax collected, is 28.0% of total taxes collected in the UK and 32.0% of taxes collected in Germany as a reference point. The UK Government Wages to Total Taxes Collected is around 25.7% whereas Germany’s is slightly higher at 26.2%.

Being sub-30.0% from my commercial experience, is quite a nice Benchmark to cover operating expenses and or provision for new and or capital replacements.

Australia’s Total Government Wage bill is $219,024,000,000 of $469,400,000,000 or a significant 46.7% of Total Taxes Collected.

The Australia’s population is about 40.0% of that of the UK’s and 30.0% of Germanys. Australia with far less people than the UK on the face of it has a significantly disproportionate amount of its tax take going to Public Sector.

What it means is in Australia there is a lot less left over for operating expenses and or capital works. What this implies is that we have to resort to other funding eg. loans debt to pay for capital works.

And as the debt goes up; so does risk? Is it overseas derived? What if exchange rates decline? As servicing costs go up; so our ability to get any services whatsoever will fall!

Australia’s Total Government wages bill is 50.0% of Total Government Wages paid in UK and 57.0% of Government Wages paid in Germany as a reference point.

So per capita as a whole, on the data I have been able to access, suggests that our Government(s)’ employees are far more expensive to pay for than countries with higher cost of living than that of Australia.

Here is what risk-free wages are for Queensland Managers:

??

?ANALYTICS: QUEENSLAND

On the face of it Queensland State Government employees can be divided into three categories:

?1.????Front-line workers (nurses, doctors, specialists, teachers, ambos, government labourers, etc,);

2.????Administration management clerical;

3.????Underemployed / surplus staff.

?It has been noted that despite significant improvement in processes / processing, automation, the improvement of accounting administrative clerical functions, that the Queensland Government have done little to improve efficiencies.

?Now when you see the facts below, you might appreciate what the data suggests and my quite provocative title.

?I was a recent outpatient for a minor matter, that really required something to be assessed (it may have been urgent / not important). Something that if there were proper processes / processing in place; I could have been in and out in 2 – 3 hours. 11.0 hours later! Think how many staff my quite simple process / procedures tied up! And the frustration on the front-line workers themselves.

?So here are the facts from data I have been able to obtain in regard to Queensland’s finances:

?1.????In 2000 the State Deficit was $15,800,000,000 for each man woman and child; by 2023 it is $130,400,000,000 or $24,500 and we have an aging population. It represents a 725.0% increment. This is up by 73.0% since 2015;

2.????It equates to an increase in the debt-to-income ratio of 0.84 to 3.05 over the same period;

3.????Our risk-free wages were $8,440,000,000 or $39,074 per capita; today they are $29,040,000,000 or $88,000 (see UK / European wages where cost of living is far higher is $61,900 in AUD per annum with four times the tax take on average annum; with Germany’s being $81,200). Total Australian Government wages are $101,400;

4.????Risk free wages have risen from 44.7% to 68.0% of State income and as we know, we are being taxed to the limit in all spheres; it leaves precious little for retirement expenses and or CAPEX. Our business expenses rates, water rates, electricity direct and indirect taxes have gone sky high leading to business failures;

5.????Our Treasurer (who I know and it really a nice guy) claims: “We will be returning to surplus in three / four years time”. On what; our current earnings or on the Balance Sheet (sic)?

6.????State (and Local) Governments have used Housing to I understand add 1/3rd to cost of construction to any given new build as another form of tax;

7.????The average risk-free wage of $88,000 in Queensland (for Australia as a whole they are $101,400 per annum way way way above UK and Germany), with no apparent attempts of Government to improve efficiencies, to contain hiring, ballooning debt, prepared to use our environment as its backdoor to exploit and as an excuse not to manage a thing and or with indexed wages, but logic and reasoning means that Queensland is either bankrupt or yet to declare it!

?One can reasonably conclude that starting with our Australian Total Government Wage to Tax Take being 46.7%, versus the UK and Germany’s of around 25.0 – 26.0%, and granted our States do not have access to the same level of collection opportunity, and our Queensland Government Total Wages to Income (say also off a high base) from 2000 – 2023 have increased from 44.7% to 68.0%, on the face of it, it seems that Australia overall’s wages in the Public Service are well over the odds. ???

?CONCLUSION

I believe that this is an enormous challenge for the whole country.

?As the title of my article suggests urgent attention is required going forwards. This is a pity. This country has fewer complexities that other countries have. Why do we really want to spoil it because we simply are not managing our affairs? We are prepared to use our environment as a scapegoat for our spending and have the audacity to look at our Aboriginal folk in the eye and to say: "We are NOT stuffing up your country; we are just going to keep doing it!".

?As stated our Governments use each other’s rear view mirrors as their benchmarks, and not independent reference points and actual facts eg. how much accumulated debt do we have; are we taxing everything to breaking point (look at the facts); in Queensland:

• In 2000 our State deficit was almost one on one with our annual tax income; by the 2023 forecast it is 725% higher; our wages (excluding ongoing retiree entitlements) 244.0% higher; forgetting that inflation is just using a number and is NOT really a reference point was around 90.0% more over the same period;
• Our debt-to-income ratio has gone from 0.84 to 3.05 over the same period;
• Our deficit to population was $4,350 per person; today it is $24,500 per capita and our population on average is older;
• The current Status Quo in regard to Queensland (and the country); is not just like a snake eating its tail; it has virtually eaten itself;
• Ignoring the fact that using 2000 as a reference point, is a reasonable reference point, our State Government Wages to Income were already 44.7%; by 2023, there is just 32.0% of a substantially higher tax take left to cover operating expenses, to cover interest repayments and to provide retired staff their pensions, capital works etc.;
• The average risk-free State Government wage is $88,000 (Australia's overall is $101,400); which across the United Kingdom and Germany for all Governments is $61,900 (AUD) and $81,200 respectively where their cost of living is far higher and their quality of life in my opinion lower;
• Consider the risk-free pay scales above of our highest paid bureaucrats in Queensland equivalent to $71,050 per month. It is absurd. They have every resource at their fingertips to make decision. They are simply figureheads feeding off the Gravy Train. It is about massive massive egos;
• I have it on reasonable good authority that to play that political game amongst the higher echelons in the Queensland Public Service (sic); it is NOT a Public Service it is a massive massive heist, is to amass a Bigger Bureaucracy than your mate! You then command a higher wage! Indexed!

I believe that our Public Service is being used as a suppository to justify unemployment STATS to make Australia look good! At a huge cost. That is definitely the case in Queensland.

Instead of 330,000 State Public Servants (or according to another statistic 350,000); I believe with all the hidden and underemployed in the mix that there are an immediate 80,000 - 100,000 less needed to do the same work. And that excludes all Front Line Workers. And or whose wages ought to be say 20.0% less than maybe Private Sector equivalent. And no senior bureaucrat is worth more than $200,000 - $250,000. Well you have created this dilemma; now fix it!

I challenge this country to GET ITS HOUSE IN ORDER! And that means a massive massive overhaul of The Public Service; and it turn it back into being a Public Service! All you have done is to create massive noose around our necks. Now sort it out!

Our yapping dog politics betw. politicians and obvious close ties to our bureaucracy is not delivering good outcomes with The People’s Money.

?Having an ineffective unobjective media who play tiddlywinks with us The People is unhelpful. Closing down our talented investigative journalists capable of presenting these things objectively vs the Murdoch style News Limited / Fox News argumentative point scoring way is unhelpful.

?I take no pride in presenting this.

?Copyright ? Donald E Gilbert 2023

## QUEENSLAND INVESTMENT CORPORATION

Work this out yourselves: independent records show their annual Nett Income is around $84.3 million which are generated from total assets of $98,700,000,000.

It equates to a "return" on capital of 0.09%! This begs many many questions.