South Australian Treasurer Tom Koutsantonis has urged West Australians to remember who bankrolled the mineral-rich state before its mining boom as division deepens over a federally ordered independent GST review.<\/p>\n
The former Coalition government ordered the Productivity Commission to probe 2018 GST reforms that introduced a 75 per cent floor aimed at preventing Western Australia\u2019s share from dropping too low.<\/p>\n
To avoid other states and territories losing out, the federal budget topped up the total pool.<\/p>\n
Nine years on, the Productivity Commission\u2019s interim report gave a scathing review of the changes, declaring them a \u201ccostly mistake\u201d that has \u201cmade the system less equitable and more complex while costing Australian taxpayers almost $23bn to 2024-25\u201d.<\/p>\n
West Australian Premier Roger Cook has accused the \u201ceast coast clowns\u201d behind the interim report of launching \u201can attack on every hardworking Western Australian\u201d.<\/p>\n
Mr Koutsantonis on Monday pushed back, putting the two Labor state governments at polar opposites of the nationwide debate.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Productivity Commission has done an exceptional job, and what they\u2019ve basically found is the changes made by the Morrison government made Australia unfairer and Western Australia richer,\u201d Mr Koutsantonis told the ABC\u2019s Radio National.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow, any independent analysis of this Productivity Commission interim report would show what (GST) does is unfairly \u2026 immorally backs a state that does not need the assistance it\u2019s getting at the expense of other states that do need assistance\u201d.<\/p>\n
He went on to \u201cremind\u201d Western Australia that before the iron ore boom last century \u201cwhat helped Western Australians have the equal level of service that was on the east coast and other parts of Australia was HFE, and it was those bigger states subsidising Western Australia\u201d.<\/p>\n
HFE, or horizontal fiscal equalisation, is redistributing federal revenue among the states and territories.<\/p>\n
Australia has had variations of HFE since the 1930s.<\/p>\n
West Australian Treasurer Rita Saffioti took a starkly different view on the Productivity Commission\u2019s report when she appeared on the same program after her South Australian counterpart.<\/p>\n
Ms Saffioti insisted her state needed the current settings \u201cto develop \u2026 resources because they lead to national economic growth but also the national bottom line\u201d.<\/p>\n
She also said Anthony Albanese \u201chas been very solid on this every time he\u2019s come to WA in relation to the GST deal\u201d, adding that \u201cthe Premier sought reassurances on that on Friday\u201d.<\/p>\n
The Prime Minister has distanced himself from the report, stressing it \u201cwas commissioned by the Morrison government, not by our government\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cWestern Australia deserves a fair deal and they contribute to our national economy,\u201d Mr Albanese said on Friday.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re a driver of our national economy.\u201d<\/p>\n