Retail trade figures in Queensland have continued to fall as Campbell Newman and the LNP Government refuse to acknowledge underlying problems in the state economy, Shadow Treasurer Curtis Pitt said today.
Mr Pitt said retail trade figures released yesterday revealed Queensland’s retail trade contracted 0.1% in trend terms.
“Queensland is only ahead of the Northern Territory and well behind New South Wales and Victoria who both recorded growth of 0.5%,” Mr Pitt said.
“The only place worse off than Queensland when it comes to trend retail trade figures is the Northern Territory.
“Put simply, Queensland under the Newman Government has the worst retail trade figures of any Australian state.
[singlepic id=611 w=320 h=240 float=left] “Once again under the LNP, Queensland is falling well behind the rest of the country.
“Even in seasonally adjusted terms, growth is less than a third of what we’re seeing in New South Wales and Victoria,” he said.
“The Queensland Treasury website also details that trend growth in retail trade over the year to September is only 1.7% in Queensland, compared with the national average of 5%.
“National growth in retail sales has been contributed by some to the release of the iPhone 6, but even after strong national sales of smart phones it seems the Newman Government is still smarting when it comes to retail spending.
“Without the rush in iPhone sales I shudder to think what the result might have been in Queensland.”
Mr Pitt said with state unemployment figures due to be released this week, the results were concerning.
“If retailers aren’t doing well, they’re not employing people,” he said.
“Retail workers are often those who are impacted most by changes to their employment.
“It’s time for Campbell Newman and the LNP to stop spending taxpayer dollars on advertising his plan for asset sales and start investing in a plan for job creation.
“Unemployment is already too high.
“At more than 6%, unemployment is above GFC levels and much higher than Campbell Newman’s promise of 4%.
“The LNP’s only plan is to sell assets and that means even more job cuts and even higher electricity prices.”
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