Andrew Bartlett (Queensland, Australian Democrats) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate take note of the document.

I will not speak for my full time. I am fairly sure that in years gone by you have spoken to previous annual reports of the Commonwealth Grants Commission, Mr Acting Deputy President Watson. It is an area that features in political debate, with various premiers from time to time complaining that their state does not get enough and other states get too much. When you dive into it, the formulas involved are quite arcane and not as straightforward as is often suggested about how the various arrangements work for the Commonwealth Grants Commission. I think for that reason alone it is worth people looking at the report and, before they start mouthing off extensively about Commonwealth grants and the commission, having some broad understanding of what they are talking about.

On one hand, it is very straightforward. As the report said, the commission only has one outcome that they have to report upon, and that is fiscal equalisation, but the details of how that operates are quite complex indeed. The only comment I would make at the moment is that premiers and treasurers from, in particular, New South Wales certainly make regular allegations that somehow or other Queensland is getting an unfair share of that fiscal equalisation process and that New South Wales is getting sold short. It probably would not be a great surprise that, as a senator for Queensland, I do not agree with those assessments.

We have had full-page newspaper advertisements put in by state governments trying to make the case and complain that they are being short-changed. I think a lot of arguments could be put forward to indicate why Queensland is in no way getting more than its share of the pie, and certainly one area I would strongly support the Queensland government on is not giving in to those sorts of propaganda campaigns from states further south, which are trying to get more money than I think is merited with regard to the Commonwealth Grants Commission process. So I have an opportunity to expand on this further at another time, I seek leave to continue my remarks later.

Leave granted; debate adjourned.