❓ Dr. Honey questions the Premier about securing a written guarantee from the Prime Minister regarding WA's GST share. The Premier defends the government's record on securing a favourable GST arrangement, highlighting past failures and current successes through collaboration with the Commonwealth.
AnsweredQoN 114Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
GST
DISTRIBUTION
114. Dr D.J. HONEY to the Premier:
I have a supplementary question. Will the Premier obtain a written
guarantee from the Prime Minister to guarantee our GST share, because that is
not what the PM said?
DISTRIBUTION
114. Dr D.J. HONEY to the Premier:
I have a supplementary question. Will the Premier obtain a written
guarantee from the Prime Minister to guarantee our GST share, because that is
not what the PM said?
AnswerView source ↗
It was this government that secured it. I have been in the
Parliament—I kid you not—for 26 years. I remember when the Liberal government signed up to the GST
in 1998. I was sitting over there. Actually, I was sitting where the Leader of the Liberal Party now sits. That is
where I was sitting. I remember that the then Premier—Premier Court —was
arguing in favour of the GST arrangement. I remember that the shadow Treasurer
Eric Ripper was standing there saying that we had no guarantee of how low our
share would go. The thing about the GST is that it removed a range of state
taxes. Therefore, because it removed those state taxes, GST became a bigger
share of the state's revenue. When
it became a bigger share of the state's revenue, it was subject to this
rise and fall. By having that rise and
fall in place, it jeopardised the state's revenue, even though if we
were getting back a reasonable share of $1 or so, our revenue would be
stronger. Because it could literally go down, which it would but for this
arrangement, to 10 � in the dollar, we were vulnerable. That
vulnerability has dramatic impacts on state finances because the revenues can go down and up. But who fixed it? We were elected in 2017, and what happened
then? The commonwealth government worked with us to fix it.
I remember that Premier
Barnett tried; he railed against it, talked and argued and went public, but
nothing happened . Then Western Australians elected a new Labor
government and that shocked the Liberal–National government members in
Canberra. They could not believe it! Western Australia elected a Labor
government and they thought that they had
better work with us, and so we worked with them. We got huge amounts of money
for transport—rail and roads. We got money for infrastructure and we
got the GST fixed. That is what we did; we worked with them.
As I have said before, my predecessor, whom I hold absolutely
no ill will against, did not want to talk to the commonwealth government. He
had a policy. He used to stand there and say that he did not need to talk to
the commonwealth government. However, I have
a policy of talking to the commonwealth government. Within a week, I went
and met with Malcolm Turnbull and I told him that he needed to fix this and
that it was in his own interest to do so. To be fair to him—he is now
the most hated man in the Liberal Party, or formerly in the Liberal Party, I suspect—he
listened, and we worked together. I also worked with Scott Morrison, and, as I have
said before, contrary to most people, I got
on with him. I was actually grateful that he worked with us and we secured the
outcome , so it was good for the state.
The member comes in here criticising us when he should be
saying that the Western Australian Labor government secured a great arrangement
from the commonwealth government, and we have now had a reassurance by federal
Treasurer Chalmers. Long may that continue.
Parliament—I kid you not—for 26 years. I remember when the Liberal government signed up to the GST
in 1998. I was sitting over there. Actually, I was sitting where the Leader of the Liberal Party now sits. That is
where I was sitting. I remember that the then Premier—Premier Court —was
arguing in favour of the GST arrangement. I remember that the shadow Treasurer
Eric Ripper was standing there saying that we had no guarantee of how low our
share would go. The thing about the GST is that it removed a range of state
taxes. Therefore, because it removed those state taxes, GST became a bigger
share of the state's revenue. When
it became a bigger share of the state's revenue, it was subject to this
rise and fall. By having that rise and
fall in place, it jeopardised the state's revenue, even though if we
were getting back a reasonable share of $1 or so, our revenue would be
stronger. Because it could literally go down, which it would but for this
arrangement, to 10 � in the dollar, we were vulnerable. That
vulnerability has dramatic impacts on state finances because the revenues can go down and up. But who fixed it? We were elected in 2017, and what happened
then? The commonwealth government worked with us to fix it.
I remember that Premier
Barnett tried; he railed against it, talked and argued and went public, but
nothing happened . Then Western Australians elected a new Labor
government and that shocked the Liberal–National government members in
Canberra. They could not believe it! Western Australia elected a Labor
government and they thought that they had
better work with us, and so we worked with them. We got huge amounts of money
for transport—rail and roads. We got money for infrastructure and we
got the GST fixed. That is what we did; we worked with them.
As I have said before, my predecessor, whom I hold absolutely
no ill will against, did not want to talk to the commonwealth government. He
had a policy. He used to stand there and say that he did not need to talk to
the commonwealth government. However, I have
a policy of talking to the commonwealth government. Within a week, I went
and met with Malcolm Turnbull and I told him that he needed to fix this and
that it was in his own interest to do so. To be fair to him—he is now
the most hated man in the Liberal Party, or formerly in the Liberal Party, I suspect—he
listened, and we worked together. I also worked with Scott Morrison, and, as I have
said before, contrary to most people, I got
on with him. I was actually grateful that he worked with us and we secured the
outcome , so it was good for the state.
The member comes in here criticising us when he should be
saying that the Western Australian Labor government secured a great arrangement
from the commonwealth government, and we have now had a reassurance by federal
Treasurer Chalmers. Long may that continue.
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