Barnett wants 2-year GST freeze
Colin Barnett has asked Tony Abbott to give WA two years relief from cripplingly low GST payments, warning that the State may have to become more "selfish" in helping east coast States in times of crisis.
Claiming WA faced its most severe economic shock since the 1987 sharemarket crash, the Premier threatened to withdraw from Commonwealth-State programs unless the Prime Minister came up with a rescue package.
It was revealed last night that the treasurers of the seven other States and Territories had ganged up and written a letter demanding Treasurer Joe Hockey not deviate from the recommended GST carve-up.
They said any rescue package for WA should be considered separately to the GST.
Mr Barnett used a private meeting with Mr Abbott last night to demand the Commonwealth institute a 38¢-in-the-dollar floor for GST, below which no State's share could fall.
The Premier told _The West Australian _ last night that he had received a fair hearing.
"No other State has suffered a drop in GST to the extent that WA has," Mr Barnett said. "At an absolute minimum, we say WA should not be made any worse off over the next two years.
"I made the point that WA stands to receive fewer dollars in 2015-16 than we received in 2000-01. By comparison, every other State has had a doubling or trebling of their GST revenue over the same period."
If the PM accepted Mr Barnett's demands, every other State and Territory would have their GST payments for 2015-16 cut by a combined $500 million.
The Commonwealth Grants Commission has recommended WA should get just 29.9¢ in every dollar it generates, even though plummeting iron ore prices have punched a multibillion-dollar hole in the State Budget.
Mr Barnett's plea for a Federal bailout found an unusual ally when Labor leader Bill Shorten used a visit to Perth yesterday to demand Commonwealth intervention.
Mr Shorten said WA was experiencing a "perfect storm" deserving of a one-off $300 million payment or an advance of infrastructure payments. "The Commonwealth Government has a role as the steward of the national financial system to step in on what is manifestly an unfair outcome in terms of Western Australia," he said.
Mr Abbott made it clear yesterday that he had no intention of allowing the Council of Australian Governments meeting to divert from its scheduled focus on domestic violence, national security and the ice epidemic.
"The Premiers are free to raise whatever subject they want and if they want to raise the GST with me, I'll certainly give them a polite hearing," he said.
"But one of the things that I'll be stressing is that the GST is a tax that is raised for the States for their spending. Collectively it belongs to them and if they're unhappy with the way it's distributed, it's something that they need to sort out amongst themselves."
In an earlier Perth radio interview, Mr Barnett said his Government was going to be more "selfish" when it came to supporting other States in crisis. "We're going to look after West Australians now and not be quite so generous to the other parts of Australia," he said.
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said the COAG meeting would not be about the GST.
"We have got an independent umpire in the Grants Commission, they have made their determination and that's the end of the matter," he said.
Woodside Petroleum and National Australia Bank chairman Michael Chaney, WA's most senior business person, threw his support behind reforming the GST allocation process.
"My view is something has to be done about it," he said.
