Angry WA premier lashes 'east-coast clowns' on explosive GST report

An angry Roger Cook has lashed as "east coast clowns" the people who authored an explosive report into GST distribution and branded it an "attack" on Western Australians.

Western Australia was the only state or territory to benefit from 2018 changes to how the goods and services tax is carved up, according to a new Productivity Commission interim report into the reforms.

The GST distribution is supposed to help each state and territory provide services and infrastructure to the same standard.

"However, as a result of the [2018] reforms, Western Australia received enough GST revenue to meet 113 per cent of its assessed fiscal needs in 2024-25 — compared with 98 per cent for all other states," the interim report said.

Premier Roger Cook said any changes to the GST distribution would unfairly punish WA for its success "simply to prop up other lazy states".

He said the Productivity Commission's report was "an attack on every hard working Western Australian".

"It's a sign that these east coast clowns simply do not understand Western Australia, they have no Western Australian representative, and no idea,"

Mr Cook said.

The report said WA's mining boom drove up the state's ability to fund itself, meaning it received less GST, while the GST formula also meant WA was caught short during times of volatility, for example when mining royalties fell after the global financial crisis.

"This produced a sentiment among many Western Australians that the state was 'losing' its revenue," the commission's interim report said.

The commission said political pressure from the WA government at the time partially influenced the 2018 reforms.

'Dodgy, deceitful, dumb'

The Productivity Commission has proposed three potential options for change, stating the "first-best response" would be a return to the pre-2018 system, while addressing issues caused by mining revenue "directly and transparently".

Mr Cook described the commission's proposed options as "dodgy, deceitful, and quite frankly dumb".

"I'm angry, Western Australians are angry, and we have a right to be,"

he said.

Mr Cook said he spoke with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese today.

"The Prime Minister told me the arrangements in place for Western Australia will remain," Mr Cook said.

"And, this report, a product of the Morrison Liberal government's legislation, does not reflect the federal government's position.

"But we're taking nothing for granted. We are going to fight to keep Western Australia the strongest economy in the nation."

Speaking this morning before the interim report was released, Mr Albanese assured WA would get a "fair deal".

"You will get your fair share, because your work and what you contribute to the national economy really counts," he said.

WA Treasurer Rita Saffioti said reverting to pre-2018 GST distributions would remove about six billion dollars of revenue from WA each year, and disincentive economic development.

"It's simply illogical, it doesn't support economic growth," she said.

"You'd expect a productivity commission to focus on policies that support productivity."

The Productivity Commission argued in its interim report the GST was intended to provide an equal quality of services across Australia, rather than punish or incentivise state developments.

"Where a state receives a smaller share of the GST pool, it reflects a need for less support to deliver this level of services," the interim report said.

The media conference, held by the WA premier and treasurer, was evacuated after the fire-alarm went off at Dumas House.

"Yeah, while we're gone, they're going to take our GST," Treasurer Rita Saffioti quipped.