Fraser says Qld will avoid recession

Queensland Treasurer Andrew Fraser says he doesn't expect the state to go into recession this year, but won't make predictions beyond that.
A report by Access Economics says Queensland is likely to be hit hard by the global meltdown, driven by a sharp drop in China's demand for the state's coal.

"Queensland may be in the unusual position of shrinking as a share of the Australian
economy for a few years," Access Economics said.
Queensland relies heavily on coal royalties for its budget, with the state expecting
to reap $3.65 billion in 2008-09.
Mr Fraser said that while a drop in commodity prices had been factored into the
budget, he believed the state would weather the storm better than others.
"I don't believe that we will (go into recession)," Mr Fraser told AAP.
"But we certainly believe this latest report underscores the size of the challenge
the global economy faces in 2009."
He later told reporters he would not look beyond 2009, given the "swirling change of
circumstances" in world economies over the past six months.
"I think what we need to do is focus very much on the short term," Mr Fraser said.
He said the quarantining of the state's $17 billion infrastructure program for this
year would help sustain the economy.
"That's what's helping keeping demand activity going in the Queensland economy,
supporting jobs in the Queensland economy, and I believe will achieve that target,"
Mr Fraser said.
Opposition Leader Lawrence Springborg said the government could have been better
prepared for the tough times ahead.
"I think that Queensland now goes into this economically uncertain time absolutely
under-prepared, because the government has squandered the resources boom, the
royalties from the mining boom and the cupboard is now bare," he told reporters.
"The government should have been investing the royalties from the mining boom to
actually broaden our economic base so that we could weather the storm."