Western Australia Premier Mark McGowan blasts 'whinging' NSW government in GST stoush
An interstate battle is set to come to a head over GST, with Western Australia Premier Mark McGowan already at loggerheads with newly-anointed New South Wales counterpart, Dominic Perrottet.
Mr Perrottet, first as Treasurer and already as Premier, has indicated that NSW finds the current GST revenue distribution unsatisfactory.
He has said there must be a debate about it soon.
WA Premier Mark McGowan has blasted the NSW government over a looming GST stoush. Getty
But Mr McGowan hit back last night on social media, posting on his official Facebook page.
"If it wasn't for the GST deal we fought so hard to secure, WA would get back barely 40 cents on the dollar this year, and even less in years to come," Mr McGowan wrote.
"No other State has ever had its share drop to anywhere near the levels that WA has seen, but more importantly, none are worse off under the revised deal.
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"I'm sick of the Sydney Liberals whinging about it. West Aussies shouldn't have to pay for their budget mismanagement."
In his first press conference after being elected Liberal leader on Tuesday, Mr Perrottet pledged to "fight" for NSW on GST.
He said it was crucial that the Federal Government not remove the no-worse-off clause.
NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet said he would "fight" for the state on GST. Getty
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"This is about fighting for our state. (Mr McGowan) fights for his state, but my job is to represent the people of NSW," he said.
"And when it comes to GST and some of those issues which are coming to a head, I'm not going to stand by and have NSW worse off because, whilst there might not be that much public interest in GST reform, it's GST that pays for our schools and our hospitals and our nurses and our teachers and our police officers."
Responding to those claims on Today, Mr Perrottet revealed he is yet to speak to Mr McGowan since becoming Premier and doubled down on his stance.
"We've been paying for Western Australia for some time," said Mr Perrottet.
"The reality is Western Australia got an incredibly generous deal from the Federal Government when it came to GST. It's not Mark's fault. It was actually a Liberal government in the middle of the mining boom that wasted all those mining royalties and now it's NSW and Victoria particularly that are going to be picking up the tab for the other states."
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