One of Anthony Albanese’s Labor backbenchers has hit out at WA’s share of the GST, labelling it a “terrible” and “dysfunctional” deal which he insisted was “bad for my state of New South Wales”.
Ed Husic’s Criticism of GST Arrangement
Ed Husic used a Sky News interview on Tuesday to demand that the GST arrangement be changed, despite repeated assurances from his Labor leader and Treasurer Jim Chalmers that WA would always get its fair share. Mr Husic, who represents the seat of Chifley in western Sydney, decried that WA’s share was “hurting” his electorate, which has growing “infrastructure demands”.
He insisted the deal “can’t stay forever and a day, and it has to have a serious look at”. “It hurts New South Wales. I don’t think that’s fair. It absolutely should be changed,” he said. “The deal that Scott Morrison did on the WA GST has sent rivers of gold to WA.”
Prime Minister’s Previous Assurance
The Prime Minister even went as far as to sign a Perth reporter’s arm with the assurance “no change to WA GST” while in WA last term. Dr Chalmers has repeatedly given a water-tight guarantee to this masthead that “we’re not considering any changes to the GST deal with WA”.
Mr Husic accused both major parties of not changing the GST arrangements to protect their own political interests in the West. While WA has historically elected coalition representatives, Labor has romped in the WA vote at the last two elections.
“We are all tolerating, as a country, a system, because it’s sort of the political equivalent of ‘M.A.D’ - mutually assured destruction,” Mr Husic said. “New South Wales is getting the lowest distribution now of GST since the GST began, 82 cents in the dollar. Why is that a big deal for me, representing parts of Western Sydney, some of the fastest growing in the country? North West Sydney, huge infrastructure demands. New South Wales can’t do it all on its own. If we have a dysfunctional GST arrangement sending $51 billion extra to WA, channelling the words of the WA Premier, I would say that that deal for WA is bad for my state, for New South Wales.”
Liberal Senator Michaelia Cash Responds
WA’s most senior Liberal, Michaelia Cash, was scathing of Mr Husic’s GST spray and called for the Prime Minister to urgently rebuke his backbencher’s comments. “Ed Husic has let the cat out of the bag - the Albanese Government is considering walking away from Western Australians getting their fair share of GST,” Senator Cash said. “This would be yet another broken tax promise from Mr Albanese. Mr Albanese needs to rebuke Mr Husic’s comments and publicly state there will be no changes to the arrangement which ensures Western Australia gets its fair share of GST. The former Liberal Government stopped the Western Australia GST rip off, but now Labor wants to bring it back which would see our state lose billions in revenue.”
Prime Minister’s Office Response
The Prime Minister didn’t buy in when questioned by The West Australian about his backbencher’s spray on Tuesday. His office instead referred to previous commitments made by the PM in WA last week and pointed to the 2024 arm-signing incident. “I have continually provided my support for the existing arrangements in WA, and I have not changed my position,” the PM had said on April 29.
A spokesman for Dr Chalmers on Tuesday insisted the remarks made by Mr Husic were not shared by the Treasurer. “Those aren’t the Treasurer’s views, and his views haven’t changed. He is a big supporter of WA getting a fair share of the GST,” the spokesman told The West.
Potential Political Fallout
Federal Labor would face tough opposition from their State counterparts if changes were made to the GST, with the Cook Government publicly opposed to a shake-up which would reduce WA’s share. The WA Government launched an east coast advertising blitz late last year and Premier Roger Cook led a delegation to Canberra to counter perceptions the deal is unfair to other States. At the time, Mr Albanese’s assistant minister and Perth MP Patrick Gorman had urged Mr Cook to “save their money” on the ad campaign and trip because he was so certain WA’s GST share was “rock solid”.
Mr Husic referenced a 2018 deal struck under the then Scott Morrison Liberal Government which guarantees WA a minimum share after the figure previously fell to 30 cents in the dollar.
