EVERYTHING bar policing, public safety, emergency services and justice has been put on the table for privatisation in the final Queensland Commission of Audit report.

Government-owned corporations, Queensland Transport, the Queensland Investment Corporation and health, housing and education have all been identified as areas where the private sector could be be brought in to do it better and cheaper.

But the report, which also recommends widespread asset sales as revealed by The Courier-Mail today, notes even some aspects of those sectors considered best handled by government could lend themselves to privatisation as well.

" Recent experience has shown that even elements of these functions can be delivered effectively by the private sector (for example border security surveillance and private operation of roadside speed camera)," the report states.

On health, the report backed the government's plan to privatise some aspects of health delivery, finding that while public health spending increased 43 per cent between 2007/08 and 2011/12, activity increased by just 17 per cent.

The large public sector wage bill has also been identified as an area that needs further attention, along with the current award system.

"There is a need for greater workforce flexibility and mobility so that resources can be readily redirected to areas of highest priority - by removing restrictive workplace practices which add unnecessary costs without delivering improved output," the report states.

"Industrial relations and enterprise bargaining arrangements should not fetter the ability of managers to manage."

The Courier-Mail today revealed the report by former federal treasurer Peter Costello, delivered yesterday, has recommended the state undertake a massive sale of assets to pay off burgeoning debt.

The report found there was no scope to increase taxes or cut expenditure, while the sale of electricity assets, including Energex and Ergon, would raise the $25 billion to $30 billion necessary to reclaim Queensland's AAA credit rating.

The state should also consider selling some of its other seven government-owned corporations, which include Queensland Investment Corporation, and SunWater.

"If the Government were to achieve a consistent fiscal surplus of 1 per cent of revenue year after year, it would take 50 years to reduce debt by $25 billion," the report states.

"The state will have to manage its balance sheet quite differently.

"If it is to substantially reduce debt, it will have to review its assets."

Treasurer Tim Nicholls said the Cabinet and LNP members would spend the next six weeks considering the 1200-page report.

However, he promised the Government would keep its commitment not to sell assets without gaining a mandate from Queenslanders.

Mr Nicholls said he believed Queenslanders would find it unacceptable for the Government to spend 50 years paying off debt, costing billions in extra interest payments.

The report found that the dozen government-owned corporations were a drag on the state's finances. For example, it found $300 million has been spent in the past three years funding electricity generator CS Energy.

"(The Government) will have to decide whether it wants to tie up large capital sums in businesses it currently owns and operates," the report states.

"It will need to decide whether capital can be put to better uses - reducing debt and debt servicing costs or new investment to produce returns which are a higher priority for the community."

Queensland and Tasmania remain the only states that still own their power generation assets.

While Mr Nicholls has been a strong advocate of asset sales, Premier Campbell Newman has been more circumspect.

Mr Newman has previously indicated he would prefer to keep essential service providers like Energex and Ergon.

The report's finding will set up a battle with the Electrical Trades Union, which campaigned heavily against the Labor government's sales.

Mr Nicholls said sales were unlikely this term given the Government's mandate commitment but it was clear improving the operations of the corporations was necessary.

"So I think the balance of this term is about making sure we have got the government-owned corporations running effectively and efficiently, delivering the services they should," he said.

The sale of government-owned corporations, especially in the energy sector was recommended in a 1996 commission of audit and the report estimates the Queensland Government lost $7.2 billion in today's dollars for not following those recommendations then.

Below is our story from this morning:

SELL assets or spend the next half a century paying off debt.

That is the stark choice presented to the Newman Government by the final Commission of Audit report into the state's finances.

The Courier-Mail can reveal the report by former federal treasurer Peter Costello, delivered yesterday, has recommended the state undertake a massive sale of assets to pay off burgeoning debt.

The report found there was no scope to increase taxes or cut expenditure, while the sale of electricity assets, including Energex and Ergon, would raise the $25 billion to $30 billion necessary to reclaim Queensland's AAA credit rating.

The state should also consider selling some of its other seven government-owned corporations, which include Queensland Investment Corporation, and SunWater.

"If the Government were to achieve a consistent fiscal surplus of 1 per cent of revenue year after year, it would take 50 years to reduce debt by $25 billion," the report states.

"The state will have to manage its balance sheet quite differently.

"If it is to substantially reduce debt, it will have to review its assets."

Treasurer Tim Nicholls said the Cabinet and LNP members would spend the next six weeks considering the 1200-page report.

However, he promised the Government would keep its commitment not to sell assets without gaining a mandate from Queenslanders.

Mr Nicholls said he believed Queenslanders would find it unacceptable for the Government to spend 50 years paying off debt, costing billions in extra interest payments.

The report found that the dozen government-owned corporations were a drag on the state's finances. For example, it found $300 million has been spent in the past three years funding electricity generator CS Energy.

"(The Government) will have to decide whether it wants to tie up large capital sums in businesses it currently owns and operates," the report states.

"It will need to decide whether capital can be put to better uses - reducing debt and debt servicing costs or new investment to produce returns which are a higher priority for the community."

Queensland and Tasmania remain the only states that still own their power generation assets.

While Mr Nicholls has been a strong advocate of asset sales, Premier Campbell Newman has been more circumspect.

Mr Newman has previously indicated he would prefer to keep essential service providers like Energex and Ergon.

The report's finding will set up a battle with the Electrical Trades Union, which campaigned heavily against the Labor government's sales.

Mr Nicholls said sales were unlikely this term given the Government's mandate commitment but it was clear improving the operations of the corporations was necessary.

"So I think the balance of this term is about making sure we have got the government-owned corporations running effectively and efficiently, delivering the services they should," he said.

Meanwhile in Brisbane today, Tony Abbott has thrown his support behind Premier Campbell Newman's financial decision-making, as the government prepares to release details of a report advising massive asset sales.

The federal Opposition Leader made the comments at the opening of the Salvation Army's new Streetlevel Mission centre in Fortitude Valley, as the State Government prepares to release details of a wide-ranging report into Queensland finances prepared by former federal treasurer Peter Costello.

The report, which recommends a massive sell-off of state assets, was delivered to the government yesterday.

Mr Abbott said Campbell Newman faced "tough decisions" in the face of more than a decade of financial mismanagement by the Labor government.

"He has got to put the state's finances on a sound footing The problem is that the former Labor government left this state, in some respects, a basket case," he said.

"The best thing Campbell can do for the people of Queensland is to ensure that the Queensland Government is not living beyond its means, because if it consistently lives beyond its means as it did under the Labor Party everyone suffers."

He said he was confident Mr Newman would make the right decision, and said he was doing a "magnificent job" as Premier.

Mr Abbott also paid tribute to staff and volunteers at the Salvation Army centre, saying it showed "society at its best".

"This is an example of people caring for people, which I think is quite heart warming," he said.

The fitness enthusiast enjoyed a decadent breakfast of banana pancakes topped with caramel sauce and ice cream before meeting with volunteers and centre clients.

Federal Trade Minister Craig Emerson has accused Mr Newman of hiding the entire Commission of Audit from Queenslanders and urged the state to release it in full.

He also claimed Tony Abbott would roll out a similar program of "savage" cuts if he won the September 14 federal election.

"Mr Newman intends to conceal the 1200 page report from Queenslanders. They paid for it, they should have access to it, not just LNP members," Dr Emerson told The Courier-Mail.

"This audit commission process is the same kind Mr Abbott has announced and its purpose is to conceal the true savagery of the cuts he has in mind for Australians if he were elected prime minister."

Mr Abbott has already promised to conduct his own commission of audit if the Coalition wins the election to identify waste and ways improve the federal Budget.

But federal Labor hopes to capitalise on voter concern about the State Government's Budget cuts in Queensland.

Dr Emerson warned Mr Newman's privatisation agenda could cause a backlash in Queensland.

"The Bligh government was penalised heavily for not foreshadowing asset sales before the 2009 election and now Mr Newman hopes to get away with doing exactly the same thing," he said.

Steven Wardill, Robyn Ironside, Sarah Vogler, Anthony Gough and Steven Scott