Premier Mark McGowan has accused the NSW Treasurer of blowing the state’s finances and “thrashing around for someone else to blame” by targeting Western Australia over the GST carve up.
Following years of complaining about getting a bad deal on the GST, WA now gets 70 cents for every dollar after Scott Morrison reworked the system when he was the federal treasurer in 2018.
The Prime Minister has been taking up every opportunity to remind WA of what he did ahead of the federal budget and election, assuring WA voters that he has no plans to change the system despite complaints from other states.
Reporters asked Mr McGowan on Monday about the GST issue, which prompted him to launch into a tirade aimed at NSW in particular.
“The GST deal means that WA now gets 70 cents for every dollar we put in … that’s been attacked by the governments of NSW, Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania,” he said.
“We have to fight to protect it – they’re unrelenting in their attacks.”
The Premier then referred to comments made by NSW Treasurer Matt Kean, who said his state “should not be funding a xjmtzywbloated WA surplus to pay for new train projects on the other side of the country while they continue to reap record mining royalties”.
“I saw the NSW Treasurer the other day carrying on that somehow WA getting 70 cents in the dollar back is somehow some sort of travesty,” Mr McGowan said.
“I just say to the NSW government and Treasurer in particular, they sold off all their assets, they’ve blown their deficits, they’ve blown their debt, they’ve been financially irresponsible.
“They’re thrashing around for someone else to blame and the most convenient target is WA.
“They seem to think that WA is some sort of benevolent uncle who bails them out when they overspend – we’re not.
“We’re actually a state that’s still not getting anywhere near what we put in.
“I just urge them to look at their own finances rather than trying to blame a state like WA who is finally getting somewhere near our fair share.”
Mr McGowan further went on to boast that his Labor government had turned WA’s finances around since they came to power in 2017.
“Careful financial management is something we put in place,” he said.
“Obviously with Covid, we had to spend more – as every government in the world did – but careful financial management by this government is what turned the finances around.
“We received a better GST share under the GST deal because finally the commonwealth worked out that WA is not a one party state.
“Over the Covid period, we put in place measures proposed by the state opposition that kept the mining industry open.”
Asked if the federal government was paying more attention to WA in its budget because the state would be a significant player in the federal election, Mr McGowan replied: “Probably. I’d say so.”
