aluminium smelter, Boyne Smelters. Bulwer Island Refinery was the state's largest oil refinery, owned by BP, at Bulwer Island in Brisbane until it was converted to an import terminal. Near Townsville is a major nickel and cobalt refinery known as Queensland Nickel. Ports Until an extensive rail network developed in the state early industries depended on seaports to get their products to market. The largest ports in Queensland are the Port of Gladstone, followed by the Port of Brisbane and then the Port of Townsville. Some Central Queensland ports have experienced significant backlogs in recent years. For example, in 2007 there were 50 ships waiting off the coast to be loaded. In 2008, the Federal Government provided Queensland an extra $20 billion for major capital works to address port and rail infrastructure shortcomings. State budget The Queensland Treasury is the state government department that devises economic and financial policy advice, prepares the state budget, organises revenue collection and provides statistical research. Economic policy priorities for Queensland are to develop a diverse economy, to create more jobs and to manage both urban growth and develop Queensland's regions. Queensland is predicted to be in deficit until the 2015-16 budget. The deficit has been partly caused by decreases in the prices for both coking coal and thermal coal. Declining GST revenue is another cause that is partly attributed to the deficit. Strong population growth and the demands this has placed on infrastructure spending as well as reductions in mining royalties have also strained recent state budgets, resulting in the loss of the state's AAA credit rating. Poor planning including the canceled Traveston Crossing Dam and cost blowouts in the budgets for the Gold Coast desalination plant, Wyaralong Dam, Tugun Bypass and Airport Link projects has not helped the bottom line. In 2009, Queensland Premier Anna Bligh announced plans for the privatisation of a number of government owned assets including Queensland Motorways, Queensland Rail's coal rail business QR National, the Port of Brisbane, the Abbot Point coal terminal and Queensland Forestry Plantations. The asset sale is expected to raise A$15 billion. There has been widespread public criticism of the sell-off which has led to slump in the Premier's popularity. Unions and economists criticised the plans as unjustified and poorly timed. Taxation Historically Queensland has been viewed as the lowest-taxing state. Queensland has slid to third place behind Victoria and Western Australia in a comparison