LNP sinks to new low in baseless scare campaign

Treasurer Curtis Pitt says the LNP’s destructive campaign to talk down Queensland sunk to a new low today when the opposition tried to suggest the QSuper defined benefit scheme is making a loss. 

“I believe that the two LNP MPs — Scott Emerson and John-Paul Langbroek — making the baseless claims may have misled State Parliament,” Mr Pitt said. 

“Today question time the LNP asked prepared questions to wrongly suggest the defined benefit fund had recorded an $855 million loss for the half-year to the end of December 2015. 

“This is totally untrue and designed to scare members of the defined benefit scheme. 

“The scheme remains in surplus and as I have said many times, its liabilities are fully funded and will be met. 

“I repeat, if every member of the defined benefit scheme left government service tomorrow all their benefits would be met in full.” 

Mr Pitt said Opposition Leader Tim Nicholls should explain why he, as a former Treasurer, allowed such misleading questions to be asked. 

He said the figure in the Queensland Treasury Corporation’s half-yearly report was wrongly cited by Mr Emerson and Mr Langbroek as a loss by the defined benefit scheme. 

“It is not a loss by the defined benefit scheme which remains in surplus,” he said. 

“It represents the outcome in a very specific transaction which the QTC undertakes as part of its overall investment activities. 

“It is the difference in investment returns from state government long-term assets such as super funds — that are paid to the QTC under a long-standing arrangement — and fixed-rate returns the QTC made to the government over the half-year, and could change before the end of the financial year,” Mr Pitt said. 

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