The Victorian and NSW governments might whinge that Queensland is getting fat on their tax money, but that won’t stop the insurance industry welcoming one small but significant feature of yesterday’s Queensland budget – a 1% drop in stamp duty on insurance transactions to 7.5%.

The announcement by Treasurer Terry Mackenroth received praise from the Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) and Brisbane-based Suncorp Metway CEO John Mulcahy.

ICA’s Queensland manager Graham Jones told Sunrise Exchange News the change is welcome, but not enough. “NSW dropped its stamp duty on premiums from 10% to 5%,” he said. “It is a robust budget and Queensland can afford the change. But the cut should be more.”