Queensland electricity rebate: Millions of Aussies to get $550 handout

Millions of Aussies can prepare for an injection of financial relief through a massive Queensland-wide surplus rebate.

Queenslanders will see electricity bill relief, free kindergarten and a myriad of other cost-of-living relief measures in the next financial year after the state posted a $12.3billion surplus, the largest across all states.

Every household in the Sunshine State will automatically receive a $550 rebate on their electricity bill from July 2023.

Around another 600,000 vulnerable households will benefit from a higher $700 cost-of-living rebate while also continuing to receive a $372 rebate under the Queensland Electricity Rebate Scheme.

About 650,000 small businesses will also receive a $650 in rebate for electricity bills.

Queenslanders will receive hundreds in electricity bill relief and other cost-of-living measures from July 1 after the state posted a $12.5billion surplus over the financial year (stock image)

Royalties from the coal industry contributed $10.5billion of the $12.5billion surplus for the state over the past financial year.

‘In this budget, our government will deliver greater and more widespread cost of living relief than any other government in Australia, state or federal,’ the state’s treasurer Cameron Dick said as he handed down the budget on Tuesday.

‘We can deliver our state’s biggest cost of living program, our state’s biggest building program and deliver lower debt because of one simple reason – progressive coal royalties,’ the treasurer said.

‘Our decision to take on the mining lobby, to stand our ground and to fight for the people of our state, has delivered a rich reward for Queenslanders.’

The rebates mean low-income households  such as pensioners and those on welfare might not have to spend anything on electricity over the year.

The decision comes after the Australian Energy Regulator (AER) determined houses in New South Wales, south east Queensland and South Australia will see increases to their electricity bills of between 19.6 per cent and 24.9 per cent from July 1. 

The state’s treasurer, Cameron Dick (pictured), said the surplus was bolstered by $10.5billion in royalties from the coal industry

The determination will be a stark difference to energy prices which have been significantly lower than the same time last year.

‘It is obviously a very difficult decision and no one wants to put up prices, as you can imagine,’ Clare Savage, AER chairwoman, told the Australian Financial Review.

She said it was a ‘difficult balance’ to strike between keeping costs low and allowing retails to recoup costs.