Matt Keogh (Burt, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Turnbull government have sold out Western Australians yet again! They told us that only they had a plan to deal with WA's unfair share of the GST, which has now been exposed as a complete farce. Liberal federal government ministers from South Australia are telling the media that, regardless of what the Productivity Commission proposes, the Turnbull government will not be changing the GST distribution. Well, which is it? After all the rhetoric and all the promises, it would appear that the government does not in fact have a plan to help WA.

My Labor colleagues and I are acutely aware of the adverse effect when there's a sudden drop in your share of GST, especially when the then state Treasurer, now the member for Pearce, made a completely unfounded assumption that it wouldn't happen. Thankfully for WA, and for South Australia, Labor actually has a plan that leaves no state worse off. Labor understands that West Aussies are getting a raw deal, and the federal Labor Party has committed to a $1.6 billion fair share fund for Western Australia. This fund will be used to build train lines, roads and other vital infrastructure our state needs, which, under the Turnbull Liberal government, will not happen.

Critically also, South Australia, Tasmania and other states will not be left worse off under Labor—unlike under the Liberals. Meanwhile, where are the federal WA Liberals? I'll tell you—they're doing nothing for Western Australia.