After telling journalists to "settle down" following repeated questions over the State's raid of the defined benefits fund, Treasurer Curtis Pitt found himself facing more queries on the sense of the move, from the business community.
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Those changes, made at the government's behest, saw the Actuary return correspondence with probabilities of the fund going into deficit based on repatriating up to $6 billion, advising, on that measure, the government take no more than $5 billion, but that it be prepared to top up the fund if it fell below the line.
Mr Pitt said that was conservative and fiscally responsible and based on the Actuary's advice.
"We are setting aside $24 billion with the fund," he said.
"On top of that we have over contributions of $10 billion so when you talk about setting aside funds to top up the fund, we are topping up a fund that is already $24 billion ahead of other states. In fact more so."
But he couldn't say whether the government would top up the fund if it fell into deficit, or explain why if there was no issue with taking the money from the scheme's surplus, the Actuary originally advised the government only take $2 billion.
At a Labor hosted lunch event to spruik the budget, Paul Laxon from Ernst and Young questioned the effectiveness of the move.
"The issue for me is around how that money is spent. I think it actually can be quite a productive measure but the key is what the money is spent on. Of the $4 billion $2 billion is being used to pay down general government sector debt," he said.
"I don't understand the logic in that because you are taking money from an investment by the defined benefit fund with a professional fund manager in QIC deriving effectively an equity return, an investment return.
"And we are replacing that with paying down (debt) so you are effectively getting a saving in debt costs which is very low so we are actually going backwards."
It's led to Mr Pitt being labelled "Captain Risky" by the Opposition.
"While he delivered a budget that was a about raids, rip offs and write downs, we now know it was also about reckless behaviour," shadow Treasurer Scott Emerson said in Parliament on Wednesday.
"It is very clear the State Actuary only recommended that the state government take $2 billion from the public service superannuation fund.
"Instead they ripped $4 billion from the fund, which is double what the State Actuary recommended."
But on Thursday, Mr Pitt and Labor will turn their attention to how the LNP would deal with the State's economic problems, with Tim Nicholls due to deliver his reply during the morning parliament session.
The LNP is expected to also focus on jobs, particularly youth unemployment, through apprenticeship programs, as well as measures to assist small and medium businesses, with their incentives, to be paid for through savings.
Parliament will resume at 9.30am on Thursday.
