CREDIT RATING  
Dear editor,

Now the dust has settled on the Queensland LNP government’s budget, and following its credit rating downgrade from AA+ to AA by S & P Global, Queenslanders will have to be prepared to tighten their belts. It will cost the State an extra $1 billion in interest payments to bondholders by the end of the decade.

A credit downgrade not only risks higher debt costs but also means there will be less money for the services Queenslanders deserve. Less hospitals, less schools and less infrastructure.

Opposition Leader Steven Miles said it is all on the Crisafulli Government as they have been repeatedly warned it would happen if they did not deliver on their own savings target.

Treasurer David Janetzki attempted to blame the Federal Budget; however, Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers said “…the State has done very well out of the Federal Budget.
There are a number of reasons why ratings agencies have a dim view of the LNP’s State Budgets, but given the billions of extra dollars we are pouring into the state, the Commonwealth is not one of them…”

Meanwhile, the Federal Labor Government has maintained our AAA credit rating from all three major global rating agencies. Australia is one of only ten or eleven other countries to do so in these turbulent times.

So how does the Queensland Treasurer intend to deliver a budget improvement? Or is he hoping to spend his way out of the mess he is creating for the future?

Robyn Deane,
Nambour.
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FOOTY FINALS FEAR 
Dear editor,

Australia does sport better than almost anywhere on earth. The AFL and NRL Grand Finals aren’t just games — they’re part of our national rhythm. Streets hum with excitement, kids pull on team colours, and families gather for what feels like a cultural holiday. It’s one of our proudest traditions.

But alongside the cheers and barbecues, another story unfolds — quieter, darker, and far more confronting.

While fans decorate their cars and plan parties, domestic violence workers prepare for a surge in calls. They strengthen safety plans, ready emergency accommodation, and brace for what they know is coming. Because in Australia, football finals can bring out the best in us and the most insidious.

Domestic violence calls spike sharply around major sporting events.

Sport doesn’t cause domestic violence. But alcohol, gambling, heightened emotion and aggressive behaviour can escalate existing patterns of abuse.

We’ve seen it recently: bottles thrown at referees, crowds hurling abuse, anger broadcast into living rooms. When aggression is normalised in public, it becomes easier to excuse in private.

Australia loves its footy. But our families deserve to feel safe too. We can celebrate our sporting traditions proudly — and still insist on respect, accountability and safety in every home.

Garry Reynolds,
Peregian Springs.
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AGED CARE SPEND 
Dear editor,

Older Australians deserve care, not spin
The Albanese Government wants Australians to believe that increased aged-care spending proves it is delivering more for older Australians. But where is the evidence?

The government has replaced Home Care Packages with its new Support at Home system, accompanied by a massive expansion of rules and reporting requirements.

At the same time, the government is funding wage increases for aged-care workers. Those substantial increases are important and deserved, but they are not the same thing as providing older Australians with more hours of care.

So when the government boasts about rising aged-care expenditure, taxpayers deserve to know what that increase actually represents.

How much is going to wages?

How much is being swallowed by administration, regulation, assessments and IT?

How much has been allocated but not yet spent, and, most importantly, how much additional care is actually reaching older Australians?

Don’t tell older Australians that billions more are being spent while they wait for assessments, approvals and services.

Show us the care.

After the lessons of the Royal Commission, older Australians deserve a system that delivers care rather than another layer of government bureaucracy.

The government cannot have it both ways. If it wants credit for increasing aged-care spending, it should also be prepared to publish exactly how much of that increase has translated into more care for older Australians.

Older Australians have paid taxes all their lives. They deserve more than political announcements and accounting tricks. They deserve care.

Colin Caudell,
Coolum Beach.
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FUEL COSTS  
Dear editor,

Politicians are sponsored by the taxpayers! They are generously remunerated with taxpayer dollars: cars, free fuel, accommodation, meal allowance and air travel as part and parcel of their work life. Our tax contributions include the GST, which affects every aspect of our cost of living, directly or indirectly. Australians are the goose that lays the golden eggs.

Presently, the GST on fuel is a windfall for our federal and state governments, as the rise and rise of fuel prices continue to add misery on misery, and hardship on hardship for workers, truckies, families and individuals trying to make a living with the odds against them.

There is no end in sight of the unresolved and expanding war inflicting economic pressure upon global oil prices.

However, the cost of living seems not to affect the modus operandi of our politicians, public servants and our Prime Minister’s ambitions to ensure a seat on the World Security Council, officially launching Australia’s bid for a temporary seat on the U. N. Security Council for 2029-30. He is cruising the world first class to bring Australia to the table, which comes at a huge cost to taxpayers.

The horrific fuel price rises, and their continuation, are frightening realities for Australian companies, institutions, workers, families and individuals with no respite in sight. Earlier, the excise tax relief helped bring down the fuel price impact. It was followed by a 50% fuel excise relief for retail fuel prices.

Now the huge extra GST bonus the government is currently accumulating should be discarded, due to the sheer historical impact of the wholesale price, refining costs, excise costs, and then GST on this, which compounds to bring excessive hardship upon our economy. Remove the GST. Give Australians a light of hope in the tunnel of dark economic times.

E. Rowe,
Marcoola.
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GOV SLOGANS  
Dear editor,

Government is a delicate thing that requires much thought and balancing of past and future ideas. The separation of powers is one of the most important and enduring symbols of a fair and just government.

To understand it requires a person to read deeply about history and human behaviour. It absolutely 100 percent should not be brought into disrepute by a two-bit slogan cooked up by some TikTok advisor. Slogans will not succeed in providing solutions to complex problems.

Dylan White,
Coolum Beach.
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ROBODEBT?  
Dear editor,

An action described by the Robodebt Royal Commissioner as “crude and cruel” and “neither fair nor legal”, and the names of those responsible, have been in a sealed envelope for the past few years.

Is it now time to open the envelope, or has it fallen ‘off the table’ to reside permanently in a dark and forgotten corner? Just asking.

Margaret Wilkie,
Peregian Beach.
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