IT WAS all supposed to be so different. Queenslanders - at least those who drive - were all set to have hi-tech equipment in their back pockets no bigger than a credit card.

THE State Government has insisted new drivers' licensing costs were "not a profit-making exercise" - but failed to release how much extra money it will pocket from the changes.

Transport Minister Rachel Nolan said the Government spent twice as much on roads as it received, and hiked licence fees would only recover the costs of introducing a more secure system.

Following massive increases in registration, the demise of the fuel subsidy and the looming impost of higher tolls, the Bligh Government yesterday unveiled big increases in licensing costs.

South-East Queensland's transport system is strained to breaking point, with the State Government ill-equipped to fix the problem, the Auditor-General has found..."(This) does not provide comfort that the expenditure will address urban congestion in an effective manner," Mr Poole said. See the full Brisbane Times story here.

South-east Queenslanders are unnecessarily sitting in worsening traffic gridlock because of the Bligh Labor Government’s failure to plan and manage infrastructure properly, a damning Auditor-General’s report has found. State Opposition Leader John-Paul Langbroek said the Auditor-General’s report was the second report released this month condemning Labor’s inability to plan projects properly.

“Labor’s record on infrastructure is a long litany of delays, drop-offs, cost blow-outs and complete white elephants,” he said.

“Earlier this month, the Auditor-General blasted the Bligh Labor Government’s poor management of health services and hospital projects.

“Now today the Auditor-General has blown the whistle on Labor’s transport failures in a report that is even more scathing than the health report. see more