Steve Irons (Swan, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I saw the member for Perth slip across and make the suggestion to the member for Wakefield that he yell that out. Keep up the rhetoric, Member for Perth; it's consistent. It's great to be able to speak today on this matter of public importance put forward by the member for Perth, because of the great role WA has within the Commonwealth. And it does have a great role: our resources sector and the mining boom bring considerable revenue to the state and federal governments. The raw materials, the technology used and the economic benefits to this country have been immense and have shaped our modern Australia.

But for too long the GST system has failed our home state of Western Australia. I'm confident when I say that nobody envisaged the distribution of GST would drop so low that any state would be getting around 34c in the dollar as a return for GST. It obviously tells us the system is flawed. But the Turnbull government has taken action. We've made regular top-up payments, and the Treasurer has announced the Productivity Commission will investigate whether Australia's system of GST distribution is affecting our national economy and productivity. This is a durable solution. It's not a quick fix, nor is it a bandaid solution, but it is a long-term and reasonable solution to such a complex issue.

We heard the member for Perth speak about the visit from the Leader of the Opposition. All that the good people of WA were given was a vote-grabbing exercise, which effectively proved he has now officially ruled out fixing the GST-sharing arrangements for WA. I must say, I was particularly eager to speak on the MPI from the member for Perth. I heard the member for Deakin talk about a train-wreck interview. There was another one in Perth last week, and that was a train-wreck interview with Gareth Parker on 6PR, supporting the Leader of the Opposition's plans for a grand rescue of Western Australia with his GST.

For the members opposite, I'll read some of that interview out; I have the transcript here. I can see that the member for Perth's really looking forward to this. This is Gareth Parker to the member for Perth, talking about the Leader of the Opposition. Gareth:

What he did announce was $1.6 billion of tied infrastructure funding to be delivered in 2019 and 2020, as I guess a bit of compensation—that's welcomed, but it's not a GST solution.

Tim Hammond said:

Look, Gareth, I don't agree with you, mate … and the way in which the reform package is structured, is plucked out of thin air. There are very good reasons why the package is set up as it is. Firstly, this $1.6 billion, again, is not just a figure made up because it sounds good. It's because it equates to a 70 cent floor, in terms of GST allocation, for WA …

Gareth Parker goes on, to Tim Hammond:

You mentioned the 70 cent floor, it's predicated on WA's GST share rising automatically through the natural rebound that we're told is going to come to about 60 cents in the dollar—

so you're not taking it from 34c to 70c; you're taking it from 60c to 70c—

let's say that that doesn't happen, let's say that our GST share only rebounds to, say, 50 cents in the dollar. …will the $1.6 billion commitment rise to bring us up to 70 cents … Is that guaranteed or is it capped at $1.6 billion?

Tim Hammond said:

No; Chris Bowen addressed this yesterday.

…   …   …

Chris Bowen has said, as late as yesterday, that he's prepared to reassess, depending on whereabouts the projections actually go, but this is as good a start as any. What it's actually about …

Gareth Parker said:

Hang on, Tim—this is important because you can't run around saying you've guaranteed a 70 cent floor in our GST share if that's not in fact what you've done.

There we have it, the member for Perth being told by his mate—and he called him his mate—that he hasn't done the 70c as he promised he would.

Certainly it's a far reach from what Labor is promising. In fact, all the Leader of the Opposition could do when he came up to WA was sprout unfunded promises—a trick straight out of the Labor playbook. Unfunded promises will have to come straight from the pockets of our constituents. As we on this side of the House know full well, when Labor increases debt, it means more taxes on every hardworking Australian. In fact, all Labor has done for WA is promise unfunded GST top-up payments. I'm not sure where the member for Perth or the Leader of the Opposition have been hiding, but the federal coalition government has been doing this, and our top-up payments have already been paid to the state of Western Australia. They are already in the bank.

We've seen this before where the member for Lilley, Wayne Swan, made it out to be the big Wild West in 2010, promising a $2 billion infrastructure fund. What did we get? We got nothing—nothing from him or Kevin Rudd, who promised $100 million a year. What do we get? There was not even one cent. (Time expired)

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