Luke Gosling (Solomon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Really mate? Check his download costs! But I digress a bit, Mr Deputy Speaker; you're very right. But the reasons were never explained about the Prime Minister being moved off or why they voted for a white supremacist slogan by mistake. There's been a bit of policy on a run. Let's hope that this bill is not the result of an administrative error. Let us hope that the coalition members are now paying more attention to which side of the chamber they are sitting on when they vote and more attention to what they're actually voting for.

We have, as I said a little while ago, advocated for a long time for a legislated guarantee that no state or territory be worse off under changes to the GST distribution. That's important. So now the government and the Treasurer have reluctantly, it's fair to say, agreed with our position that this simple proposition, this guarantee, should be legislated, that the guarantee should be included in law. Initially, the Treasurer said that this was not necessary. But now, reluctantly, and only under Labor pressure, I'm glad that he caved in—or, perhaps to put it a little bit more charitably, he's finally seen sense and has included this guarantee in this proposed legislation before us today.

I do support the amendment guaranteeing that no jurisdiction will be worse off. Obviously I very much welcome the guarantee that the Northern Territory won't be worse off. But I'm sad to say that this is an example of a government that's focused on itself and in policy disarray. It's a government that, it is probably fair to say, has almost ceased governing, reacts to pressure and gets the big calls wrong. It's been a bipartisan view for many years, in relation to the distribution of Commonwealth revenue, that all Australians have access to vital government services wherever they live in our great nation. That simple proposition—delivering it in a fair and equitable manner—is not so simple. The cost of delivery of government services varies widely across the country. I am the representative of a remote area of Australia—the northern capital but still remote from the large capitals of the eastern seaboard. In the Top End of the Northern Territory, where I'm from, we're very much aware it costs a great deal to deliver services—health, education, transport, roads, policing—and it is more expensive to deliver those services in those regional areas and remote areas than it is in the densely populated areas of south-eastern Australia. So it is not just a question of dividing up the revenue total according to population. Other more complex issues have to be considered—such as distance, climatic factors and historical disadvantage.

As the Treasurer said in his second reading speech, the way the GST is distributed has not been updated since it was introduced in 2000. But the GST now makes up more than half of Commonwealth payments to the states and territories. I do acknowledge that Western Australia has legitimate concerns around the current model for GST distribution. Their share fell to 30c in the GST dollar for GST raised in WA.

Again, as the Treasurer said in his second reading speech, the current system of horizontal fiscal equalisation was not designed to deal with significant economic shocks. The mining boom that we saw in WA was such an economic shock. The Productivity Commission found that the current GST system can deliver perverse outcomes when there is a significant shock to the economy, such as that boom, so this bill changes the method of equalisation from the strongest state, which is currently Western Australia, to the next-strongest state, whether it be New South Wales or Victoria.

The GST is distributed to the states and territories according to what is called horizontal fiscal equalisation—a term only an economist could devise. In the Territory we know the term 'horizontal fiscal equalisation' well because it has been the backbone that has enabled the Northern Territory to deliver services to Territorians. The system seeks to equalise the capacities of all states and territories by bringing them up to a standard set by the Grants Commission—and that is the fiscal capacity of the fiscally strongest state; and, as I said, Western Australia is presently nominated. This is to ensure each state and territory—whether it be where my good friend is from in Tasmania, in remote areas of WA or in any other state—has the same capacity to deliver services and infrastructure.

At the beginning of the GST period in the 2000s the strongest state was Victoria, and then New South Wales. WA, as we have spoken about, became the fiscally strongest state in about 2009 because of the boom. Members will have noticed, however, that mining in WA has largely transitioned from the construction and investment phase of the mining cycle to the production phase. Of course, we hope that there will be more construction and more investment in the future. In fact, I was just in the Pilbara chairing a parliamentary hearing on how the mining industry can better support local economies. I saw off the coast of Port Hedland about 15 iron ore carriers coming to take the iron ore to the huge markets in Asia. I hope for the best for WA because what's good for the WA economy is good for our national economy.

There needed to be a change to take into account the fact that there are peaks and troughs. This change to equalise to the second-strongest state, whether it be New South Wales or Victoria, will have the effect of removing from that GST process some of the effects of the extreme economic changes, like the boom. Victoria and New South Wales are two states that are have more broad-based, diversified and stable economies. They will provide a better benchmark.

How do these changes affect us in the Northern Territory, particularly those who I represent who live in Darwin and Palmerston? This legislation guarantees that we will be no worse off under the new scheme for GST distribution. Thank goodness we did it too. We on this side fought for this legislative guarantee. As I've already commented, the Treasurer wasn't keen to do it.

Significantly, this bill does not include additional top-up funding for Western Australia or for us in the Northern Territory, which was also announced in the government's response to the Productivity Commission's report. This funding is $1.7 billion for Western Australia and $69 million for the NT. These payments will be handled separately. In the case of the Territory I'll be watching closely to make sure that it happens. The NT government has calculated that we might have lost $500 million in GST revenue up until now. This legislation protects us from future cuts but does nothing to restore or even recognise this lost $500 million. That is $500 million less for police, teachers and nurses—and, trust me, in the Territory we need all three and more. So I will continue to stand with the Territory government—with the Chief Minister, Michael Gunner, and the Treasurer, Nicole Manison—and fight for every GST dollar. Territorians deserve no less. They deserve the same level of services as other Australians.

This current government, the Abbott-Turnbull-Morrison government, does not appear to believe that Territorians do deserve the same level of services as other Australians. We all know—or those opposite should know—that Territorians are doing it tough. We've had our own transition from construction to production. In fact, it was just this morning that the first shipment of LNG left Darwin Port bound for Japan. That is a great thing. We have officially transitioned today from the construction phase into the production and operational phrase. But the huge reduction in jobs at the project is obviously having a knock-on effect for our businesses, retail and service industries. The Territory Labor government is working hard to develop opportunities and new economic activities, particularly in tourism, agriculture and energy. Indeed, there are boundless opportunities in the Territory, but we need some investment and we need it now.

Frankly, the Morrison government is not helping. I will just give those present and those listening two quick examples. The first is the City Deal for Darwin. We need it now, not when it suits the Prime Minister and the Territory's Country Liberal Party in the lead-up to an election, whenever that may be. We need it now. It's been 550-odd days since the former Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, and the new envoy for the Morrison government promised a city deal for the Northern Territory. That infrastructure funding is important to the Territory. it means jobs and opportunities for local businesses. It means families coming to the Territory to live and work. It was promised 550 days ago—but, still, nothing.

We know from leaks from the government that it's going to be $100 million, and we're happy with that. That's what we asked for. Michael Gunner's NT government put in $100 million and we said to the government, '$100 million.' We know from leaks that we're going to get the $100 million, but it's just going to be when it suits the Prime Minister to visit. But there can be no excuses when he visits next. It may be during a visit of Japanese Prime Minister Abe to Darwin next month. That city deal must be signed—no excuses. It must be signed, because Territorians, as I said, by then will probably have been waiting 570 days. Townsville, and I'm happy for them, waited 30 days for their city deal to be signed. For Launceston it was zero. I'm happy for the Tasmanians. I'm happy for the northern Queenslanders. They're our northern brethren. But it will be 570 days, if he signs it. He might just announce that he is going to sign it close to the election, and wouldn't that be a shame?

The other thing we've been let down by is cuts to our Public Service. Would you believe that 40 per cent of Public Service jobs have been cut during the Abbott-Turnbull-Morrison government—40 per cent! For those opposite, that's a lot. It's really affecting our economy. I'm happy that the GST is going to be legislated so that we are not left behind.

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