Queensland's Liberal National Party opposition claims Labor has handed down a budget of "broken dreams" amid mixed reaction to treasurer Jackie Trad's first budget.
The treasurer's "borrow to build" mantra will see $45.8 billion being spent on capital works over the next four years, however state debt levels are set to hit $83 billion over the same period.
Opposition Leader Deb Frecklington said the budget figures showed Labor had underspent on infrastructure by $3 billion for the last three years, meaning it was fixing a problem of its own making.
"The only infrastructure crisis has been created by a Labor government," Ms Frecklington told reporters on Monday.
"This is a budget of broken dreams and broken promises for the next generation."
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That sentiment was echoed by Master Builders Queensland, with Deputy CEO Paul Bidwell saying around three thousand jobs would have been created if that money had been spent
"Each year we see that and that is an opportunity forgone," he said.
The budget's infrastructure spend is expected to generate around 38,000 jobs in 2018/19, however the unemployment rate is predicted to remain above six per cent over the next four years.
Mark Henley, from the Queensland Council of Social Services, said that was disappointing, and the budget was a mixed bag for those doing it tough.
"We can see some good things, but there's a lot of work that we still need to do to address the cost of living pressures that households are still facing," he told reporters.
However Dr Pradeep Philip from Deloitte Access Economics said the government appeared to be on the right track with its focus on borrowing to fund big-ticket items.
"What we see in this budget is a large infrastructure spend which lowers the cost of getting from place to place, lowers the cost of doing business," he said on Tuesday.
"So to that extent, borrowing can be a good thing."
