Church and union leaders have urged the Queensland government to address underfunding of health and education by stripping billions of dollars in subsidies given to the mining industry.
The call follows an Australia Institute report highlighting how Queensland spends more than any other state on mining subsidies but less than the rest of the country per capita on social services.
The report by the progressive thinktank cites Queensland treasury advice that “spending on mining-related infrastructure means less infrastructure spending in other areas, including social infrastructure such as hospitals and schools”.
However, the government issued a stinging criticism of the report via the office of mining minister Anthony Lynham, saying it was based on “sloppy research that turned up around budget time last year too”.
“The Palaszczuk government totally rejects the premise of the document,” a spokeswoman for Lynham said.
“They use the same deeply flawed methodology, lacking any financial or economic rigour, to draw similar conclusions as this time last year.”
The report found the state spent $9.5bn on mining in the five years to 2013-14, with the industry’s current “assistance wish list” including port, rail and water investments totalling another $10bn.
Meanwhile, Queensland spent less per person on health ($2,264) and education ($2,672) than any state except NSW and Victoria, which enjoy economies of scale through larger and more centralised populations.
Despite its growing and far-flung population, Queensland spent less than all other states per capita on social services, from public order and safety ($836 against a national average of $923) to social security and welfare ($567 to $686), housing and community amenities ($316 to $412) and recreation and culture ($179 to $194).
The report said the results of this spending shortfall were “obvious” in problem areas in health and education identified by the state audit office.
This included a $268m maintenance backlog in public schools and ambulance service levels being “at risk” due to budget constraints and growing demand.
Queensland would have to spend $3.8bn on 110 new schools to meet a forecast growth of 257,000 students. This would require nearly 14,000 extra teachers and support staff, meaning an extra $1.1bn in wage costs.
The report found that the government could create 10 jobs for every $1m it spent on education, or nine jobs in the case of healthcare.
But for every $1m in output by the coalmining industry, only 1.3 jobs resulted. While for iron ore and the oil and gas industries, this figure was 0.5 jobs.
However, the spokeswoman for Lynham had a different take on the mining industry’s contribution, saying it supported “one in five Queensland jobs direct[ly] and indirectly” through its $36bn-a-year output.
“The $2.5bn paid annually in royalties will help to put teachers in classrooms and nurses and doctors in hospitals in next month’s budget,” she said.
The spokeswoman said government investment in resource exploration “helps to find the deposits, developments, jobs and royalty revenue of tomorrow”.
Some of the report was “just plain wrong”, she said, with the government having ruled out using public money for the rail line for Adani’s proposed Carmichael coalmine.
Government-owned corporations provided ports and water infrastructure “on a commercial basis and under user-pay arrangements”, she said.
A Queensland Churches Together spokesman Reverend Peter Catt said churches welcomed the report and “the way it very clearly shows that there are funds that can be reallocated to build social capital”.
“We’ve had concerns for some time now about the decline in social services in Queensland and the fact that many frontline, community-based organisations have seen a decrease in their funding,” he said.
The executive director of the Australia Institute, Richard Denniss, said the report highlighted the dubious “windfall to citizens” of the mining boom.
“Where are the great new hospitals, the great new schools, the higher teacher-to-student ratios than in non-mining states?” Denniss said.
“How come non-mining states are spending more on health and education than Queensland?
“When governments choose to spend billions on unbuilt coalmines and can’t afford to invest in public transport or schools and hospitals here, that’s a big choice.”
The secretary of Together union, Alex Scott, said the Queensland government in its next budget should “abandon the corporate welfare that’s propping up our existing multinational mining companies, and … invest that money in infrastructure and in jobs”.
“We believe this budget should be about delivering services and delivering jobs, by reinvesting money away from the corporate welfare of the mining industry back into building schools and renewing our existing schools,” he said.
