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3 clusters · 7 sources · 3 days · First seen · Last updated

Australian GST allocation dispute

Overview

The Australian Productivity Commission has issued an interim report recommending the reversal of the 2018 Goods and Services Tax (GST) distribution reforms, describing the changes as ‘a costly mistake’ that has created a more complex and expensive system. The commission noted that the reforms have failed to achieve their intended purpose and warned that the current model, which includes a ‘no-worse-off guarantee’ (NWOG), could cost federal taxpayers up to $60 billion by 2030.

Under the 2018 deal implemented by the Morrison government, Western Australia received significant additional funding. Projections suggest that by 2028-29, the state could receive approximately $43 billion more than it would have under previous rules, a shift critics argue has come at the expense of other states and territories.

Western Australian Premier Roger Cook and Treasurer Rita Saffioti previously rejected the commission’s findings, with Cook characterizing the report as ‘dodgy, deceitful, and quite frankly dumb.’ The state government argued that changes could remove up to $6 billion from the state economy, impacting essential services.

In defense of the reforms, former Finance Minister Matomy argued the changes were necessary to protect Western Australia after its GST share fell to a historic low of 30 cents in the dollar. This perspective suggests the higher costs were driven by unexpectedly strong iron ore prices rather than policy failure, and that reversing the reforms would undermine the goal of restoring fairness to the state.

Entities

Productivity Commission · Western Australia · New South Wales · Commonwealth Grants Commission · Roger Cook

Timeline

  1. 6 days ago

    [POLITICS] 2 sources
    Productivity Commission recommends reversing GST reforms

    The Productivity Commission recommends reversing 2018 GST distribution reforms, calling them a ‘costly mistake’ that unfairly benefits Western Australia at the expense of other states.

  2. 9 days ago

    [POLITICS] 2 sources
    Western Australia rejects Productivity Commission GST report

    Western Australian Premier Roger Cook and Treasurer Rita Saffioti have rejected a Productivity Commission report criticizing the state's GST deal, calling proposed changes “dodgy” and “deceitful.”

  3. 9 days ago

    [BUSINESS] 5 sources
    Productivity Commission slams Australian GST allocation deal

    A Productivity Commission report labels Australia’s 2018 GST allocation deal a “mistake,” warning it could cost taxpayers $60 billion by 2030 and create inequitable revenue distributions among states.

Sources

communitynews.com.au · m.smh.com.au · switzer.com.au · theage.com.au · thenightly.com.au · thewest.com.au · watoday.com.au

This summary has been updated 1 time: see revision history