Pauline Hanson shifts to pro-WA position on GST

Pauline Hanson has undergone a remarkable transformation when it comes to the politics of the GST.

Three years ago, the One Nation leader stood up in parliament and called out the "huge benefit" Western Australia had received from a 2018 GST deal, opposed by every other state and territory.

At the time, she was arguing that the North-West Shelf gas development off WA should be included in a future gas reservation scheme, when she strayed into dicey territory with the GST carve-up.

"Is it fair that 93 per cent of Commonwealth-owned natural gas should benefit just 10 per cent of Australia's population?" Senator Hanson asked the chamber in September 2023.

"My view is no.

"Western Australia receives a huge benefit without compensating the other states because of the passage of the Treasury Laws Amendment (Making Sure Every State and Territory Gets Their Fair Share of GST) Act 2018."

In another speech delivered in March, Senator Hanson said the WA government was "addicted to Commonwealth-owned petroleum resources".

She noted the billions of dollars in royalties WA received from offshore gas projects were not included in calculations that underpinned the GST distribution.   

Now, it appears, her view has evolved. 

GST stoush continues

Amid a brawl between the states over the Morrison-era deal, which the Productivity Commission last week labelled a "costly mistake" that only benefits WA, the Queensland senator has emerged as a defender of the west.

The deal guarantees states a minimum return of 75 cents in the dollar, or no lower than NSW and Victoria, after WA's share fell to below 30 cents.

"No, I'm not pulling anything from WA," Senator Hanson told News24 last week.

"Yes they do have the mining and they're a progressive state, but they've actually done business and encouraged business there, so the GST was increased.

"What's Victoria doing? They've destroyed the whole gas industry down there, the mining sector.

"These states cannot rely on other states to prop them up."

Senator Hanson now endorses the deal, despite her own state complaining the carve-up was broken and that Queenslanders were being dudded.

"For years, Queensland has been denied its fair share. This report proves it," Queensland Treasurer David Janetzki said on Friday.

Close relationship with Rinehart

The change of heart appears to coincide with Senator Hanson's increasingly close relationship with billionaire mining magnate Gina Rinehart, who is born and bred in WA, where the GST is a very big deal.

Mrs Rinehart has become One Nation's biggest backer, gifting Senator Hanson a plane and helping finance the minor party's extraordinary rise in Australian politics.

One Nation is locked in a fierce battle with Labor in the upcoming Secret Harbour by-election, which could deliver the minor party its first lower house seat in the WA parliament.

With growing pessimism about the prospect of a Labor victory, party sources have told the ABC the contest would be a useful learning curve for future battles with One Nation.

Hands off WA's GST deal, Cook says

Keenly aware of the sensitivities, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese played down the prospect of any changes, noting the Productivity Commission inquiry had been commissioned by the former Morrison government and had only delivered an interim report.

On a visit to Perth in 2024, Mr Albanese also signed a guarantee that there would be no changes to the deal.

After talking to Mr Albanese on Friday, WA Premier Roger Cook declared the agreement would remain, dismissing the Productivity Commission as a bunch of "east coast clowns" and its report as "dodgy, deceitful and dumb".

"My message to the Eastern States is this: Hands off WA's GST deal," Mr Cook later posted on Facebook.

Leaving no one in doubt about their position, the federal WA Liberals proclaimed: "Over our dead bodies will they take a cent from Western Australia!"

Even Teal independent Kate Chaney, whose electorate covers Perth's leafy western suburbs, pushed back on the widespread criticism, calling the current GST arrangements fair.

The Productivity Commission will hand down its final report by the end of the year.