“Privatising assets hands over the right for foreign companies to charge people as much as they want, for as long as they want, for essential services and utilities,” he said.

The state government says it will attempt to pay down the $80 billion debt it inherited from the Labor government and intends to raise $37 billion by offering long-term leases for public port and power assets.

The plan includes the proposed privatisation of the Townsville Port and the Mount Isa rail line, which could be privatised for almost 100 years if the Queensland government goes ahead with its desire to offload state-owned assets.

Mr Katter is one of many who has been outspoken about the inefficiencies of the Townsville to Mount Isa rail line.

But he is adamant privatisation will not help improve efficiency.

“If the government couldn’t build a business case to upgrade the line, some foreign-owned company that is profit driven sure as hell isn’t going to upgrade the line out of the goodness of their heart,” he said.

“If government owns a rail line, it can use it and think about how to use it to build more industry along that line, more jobs, maintain populations in rural and regional areas. 

“We lose all of that when they sell it.”

The government has also proposed privatising the commercial water pipelines of SunWater, electricity generators Stanwell Corporation and CS Energy and electricity transmission and distribution companies Energex, Ergon and Powerlink.