Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Wang for that question. As Senator Wang knows, this government has provided, two years in a row now, additional support for Western Australian infrastructure in recognition of the fact that the WA share of the GST had dropped unacceptably low to a level of about 30 per cent. What we have done, last year and again this year, by making an additional investment in key economic infrastructure in Western Australia, is stop the drop in the share of the GST for Western Australia, essentially maintaining it at the 2014-15 levels.

The GST is a state tax and, as the Prime Minister has said on a number of occasions, for the GST sharing arrangements to be changed, there would obviously have to be a level of consensus across state and territory leaders. These conversations are ongoing and I am hopeful that, in due course, the Prime Minister and the state and territory government leaders will be able to come up with the best possible GST arrangement for the future.