Wide Bay
The 2024–25 Queensland Budget supports Queenslanders. In the Wide Bay it provides:
$1,300 electricity bill support
for Queensland households – an upfront $1,000 Cost of Living Rebate from the Queensland Government and a $300 rebate paid in quarterly instalments from the Australian Government.
$952M for health
for the Wide Bay Hospital and Health Service.
$79M for education
to maintain, improve
and upgrade schools in the Wide Bay.
$3.5B for the Big Build
for productivity-enhancing infrastructure and capital works, estimated to support 9,400 jobs in the Wide Bay.
Delivering for the WIDE BAY
Free Kindy
Up to 2,961 children eligible for free kindy in the Wide Bay, for 15 hours per week, 40 weeks per year.
(January 2024 to May 2024)
Fee-Free TAFE
5,290 fee-free TAFE courses commenced by people in the Wide Bay wanting to train, retrain or upskill in priority industries.
(January 2023 to March 2024)
Skilling Queenslanders for Work
$63.5 million allocated to develop skills and provide training to 6,019 people in the Wide Bay, including 4,158 people who are now employed as a direct result of their participation in the program.
(July 2015 to April 2024)
First Home Owner Grant
2,652 grants worth $44.9 million paid to home buyers to help them buy their first home in the Wide Bay.
(July 2016 to April 2024)
Delivering better services for the Wide Bay
Growth from March 2015 to March 2024
564 extra nurses up 36%
192 extra doctors up 51.7%
85 extra ambulance officers up 34.2%
72 extra firefighters up 66.6%
More homes faster for Wide Bay
The Queensland Government is building more homes faster for Wide Bay residents, including social housing for the region’s most vulnerable. Residents will soon move into 22 new factory-built modular homes in Gympie, Eidsvold, Maryborough and Bundaberg. Another 14 social homes, constructed through traditional means, were recently completed in Gympie.
Modular homes can be built quickly, and then transported to their destination. These homes are being constructed by the government’s public building arm QBuild as well as by manufacturers across Queensland. A new QBuild modular factory opened this year in Cairns will add even more homes to those built by QBuild’s original Brisbane factory. The government is boosting QBuild with up to 500 qualified tradies and apprentices expected to join its ranks by 30 June 2026.
The government has set a target of 53,500 social homes across the state by 2046 as part of its Homes for Queenslanders plan.
QUEENSLAND BUDGET 2024–25 AT A GLANCE
Total concessions including cost-of-living relief measures available in 2024–25
$11.2B
Investment in school and early education facilities
$1.3B
Total health funding in 2024–25
$28.9B
Total Big Build over 4 years
$107.3B
Community Safety Plan for Queensland
$1.3B
Jobs supported by the Big Build program in 2024–25
72,000
Putting Queensland Kids First Plan
$502M
Percentage of Big Build spend outside of greater Brisbane in 2024–25
68.5%
Homes for Queenslanders
$3.1B
Total capital investment to support the Queensland Energy and Jobs Plan over 4 years
$26B