The Palaszczuk government has tried to sidestep an election commitment not to increase fees for Queenslanders by introducing a tax hike for foreign investors instead.
Treasurer Curtis Pitt announced on Thursday that next week's state budget would include a 3 per cent transfer duty for foreign buyers of residential property in Queensland.
The surcharge, to come into effect from July 1, was expected to raise $15 million in the first year and $25 million a year after that, he said.
But the state opposition and property lobby groups have slammed the announcement as a broken promise, given Mr Pitt last year ruled out new taxes targeting foreign property investment after they were included in Victoria's state budget.
"We want to send out a very clear message that Queensland is open for business and that we welcome foreign property investment," Mr Pitt said in May last year.
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The treasurer on Thursday tried to backtrack from those comments, saying circumstances had changed.
"When we made the commitment last year, we made the commitment very clearly because the circumstances allowed us to ensure that we had a point of difference to other jurisdictions," he told a Queensland Media Club lunch.
He said Victoria had since increased its foreign stamp duty surcharge from 3 per cent to 7 per cent and NSW was also expected to introduce the fee.
Mr Pitt also rejected suggestions the government had broken its promise not to increase taxes, fees and charges, because that pledge was only applicable to Queenslanders.
"This will not be affecting Queenslanders directly," he said.
The Property Council of Australia didn't buy Mr Pitt's explanations, labelling the surcharge a high-risk move for Queensland's "fragile economy".
"At a time when the Queensland government's resource revenue is being drastically written-down, trying to recoup losses from one of the few sectors of the Queensland economy that is currently generating jobs is short-sighted," the council's Queensland executive director, Chris Mountford, said.
"The treasurer's actions are likely to intensify the market's cooling process, impacting construction work and ultimately jobs over the next 12 months and beyond."
Shadow treasurer Scott Emerson said the surcharge was a "job-destroying tax".
"A tax he admitted is going to be bad news for Queensland, this year he's brought it in," Mr Emerson said.
Mr Pitt said a $5000 boost to the current $15,000 first home owners' grant for newly-constructed homes would help offset the surcharge's impact for the building industry.
He has already announced the budget, to be handed down on Tuesday, would include $4.7 billion in revenue write-downs over the forward estimates compared to last year's budget.
Nevertheless, Mr Pitt said he would achieve an operating surplus, which was forecast to remain in place for the next four years.
