On Thursday, 14 May 2026 I asked the Premier if it is the government's policy that Queenslanders should pay more in vehicle registration each year, than major gas companies should pay in royalties.
You can read my question and the Premier's response below, or in the official Parliamentary record of proceedings (Hansard) here.
Mr BERKMAN: My question this morning is to the Premier. Last financial year in Queensland gas companies paid less than $1.7 billion in royalties while Queenslanders paid more than $2 billion in vehicle rego. Is it this government’s policy that we should pay more in car rego than multinational gas corporations pay in royalties?
Mr CRISAFULLI: I have to give it to the member: he is nothing if not persistent. One thing about the member for Maiwar is that he says out loud what the opposition thinks. That is what he does. At least the member for Maiwar has the intestinal fortitude to attack something that he does not believe in. Those opposite quietly say it amongst their Greens colleagues. They know full well that they are against the gas industry, and at least the member for Maiwar has the ticker to say it publicly.
A government member: They might make him leader.
Mr McDonald: Labor-Greens alliance.
Mr CRISAFULLI: I take the interjections. When we think about all of the state-run services that they were promising last time, it is not a far leap. It would not be a big jump to get him over. I am going to say to the honourable member what I have said consistently. What this side of the House will do every single day is a couple of things. The first is that we will fight for those people who work in those industries. I have the view that this state has been built on the back of people who put on high-vis and are prepared to go to work. I want them to know that we have a future. I want them to know that we back them.
I will again draw on the irony that the member is not a supporter of the gas industry. It is very difficult to have a conversation about so-called royalties if he does not believe in the industry. If he does not back it and wants to shut it down, it is very difficult to have a conversation about it. I believe in the industry. I believe in the people who work for it. I want a regional Queenslander to be able to get out of bed knowing that he or she can work somewhere that maybe their parents worked and knowing that one day their kids can work there. I want them to be able to buy a home in the place they grew up. I do not want them to feel as though they do not have a future in an industry. There is a future for gas—a massive future.
I look at our energy plan, the Energy Roadmap—and I give a shout-out to the Treasurer—and there is a reason this state has just recorded the single largest drop in the draft market price in the history of the scheme: we are investing in coal-fired power stations, we are using gas as a transition fuel and we are putting renewables in the area where they make the most sense financially as well as socially. On the back of stopping crazy pipedreams, like spending $36.7 billion on the Pioneer-Burdekin pumped hydro, we are driving down electricity prices for people.
Mr BERKMAN: Mr Speaker, I rise to a point of order on relevance. The question asked about the amount paid in car rego and gas royalties, and the Premier’s soliloquy has gone nowhere near answering that.
Mr SPEAKER: The point of order is on relevance. I remind the Premier to be relevant.
Mr CRISAFULLI: On the back of that, small and family businesses are set to get a double-digit price fall for the first time ever. Households, which experienced a 19.9 per cent increase because of the policy of those over there, are going to get a massive reduction. I say to the honourable member that gas plays an important part, including in firming up renewables. That is the other great aspect of gas. We back the gas industry. We back the transition plan that we put in place for coal to make sure it runs longer and for gas and renewables, and we want to see our fair share for the gas that comes from Queensland.