Glenn Sterle (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I will do my best, Mr President. My question is to the Minister for Finance, Senator Cormann. Senator Cormann, last week veteran WA Liberal Party donor Julian Stawell wrote a stinging letter to The 500 Club, a body which raises money for conservative politicians, calling them to drop support for WA's six federal ministers over their lack of action on GST reform and other issues. In his letter Mr Stawell accused the Canberra six of being 'psycophantic to the Canberra establishment', Senator Cash.

Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Women) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Sycophantic!

Glenn Sterle (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Sycophantic, sorry. When I looked at you I thought of psychos. Has the minister discussed with Mr Stawell his concerns about the minister's failure to advocate for his home state? You led with your jaw, Senator Cash. I could not help it.

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

The short answer is: no, I have not. The second part of the answer is that Liberal members and senators from Western Australia are very strong advocates for the great state of Western Australia. The first thing we did after the most anti-WA government in the history of Australia, the Gillard Labor government, which gave us the anti-WA mining tax and the anti-WA carbon tax and which created chaos and dysfunction at our borders with illegal boat arrivals as far south in Western Australia as Geraldton—if Julia Gillard had been Prime Minister for another few months, we would have had illegal boat arrivals coming up the Swan River in Perth—

Glenn Sterle (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I have a point of order on relevance. The question was very clear. Senator Cormann is going off on some psychobabble about other things. Would you direct him to the question please?

Stephen Parry (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Sterle, there is no point of order. The minister directly answered the question at the commencement of his answer. Minister, you are in order.

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

Of course on coming into government the first thing we had to do was repair the mess and the damage that the most anti-WA government in the history of the Commonwealth had done to our great state of Western Australia. We had geniuses on the Labor side. Former Treasurer Wayne Swan—remember him?—delivered a mining tax that was designed to hit the WA mining industry for six. He thought it was going to raise millions of dollars. He spent all the money he thought it was going to raise and more and created massive uncertainty in Western Australia at the worst possible time. It is this government that got rid of it. It was the Liberal members and senators from Western Australia who repaired the damage that Labor did.

Stephen Parry (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Point of order, Senator Sterle? If it is on relevance, I will rule you out because he is being directly relevant. Thank you, Senator Sterle. Minister.

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

When it comes to Western Australia and the GST-sharing arrangements it is a matter of public record that this government has actually stopped the drop in WA's share of GST at the 2014-15 level by making a $1 billion unilateral grant over two financial years to Western Australia towards infrastructure. That is more than the Labor Party ever did. I have not heard Bill Shorten suggest that he is going to take money away from Tasmania and South Australia to give it to Western Australia. Are you suggesting that Bill Shorten is going to do that?

Stephen Parry (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Sterle, final supplementary question.

Glenn Sterle (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

No, it is my first one, Mr President.

Stephen Parry (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Well I will give you the first supplementary question.

Glenn Sterle (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Mr President. I know it is entertaining, but here we go. Mr Stawell says, 'The Canberra Six need to be publicly held to account by the parliamentary leader of the WA Liberal Party as not being effective advocates for their electorates.' Has the minister been lobbied by his five Western Australian Liberal colleagues about Mr Stawell's demands?

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

Firstly, it is a free world and the gentleman is of course entitled to his views. Secondly, while all ministers in the national government bring their respective perspectives as citizens in their respective states and representatives of their respective states, they do have a responsibility to take a national perspective on things, and that is what we do. Of course all of us from Western Australia, whether we are ministers or backbenchers, work every single day on how we can appropriately advance the best interests of our home states, as other senators and members in the other place would be doing. As cabinet ministers and as ministers in the national government of course ultimately we have a responsibility to focus on the national interest as well as on the interests of the respective electorates that we represent in this place.

Stephen Parry (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Final supplementary question, Senator Sterle.

Glenn Sterle (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Stawell has suggested that 'grassroots Liberals need to get organised to effect the disendorsement of these aforementioned MPs if they do not act'. What action is the minister going to take to avoid the threat of disendorsement by grassroots Liberals?

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

It is a juvenile approach that Senator Sterle has taken. It is quite fascinating to see how much interest he pays to the internal matters of the WA Liberal Party. I think the WA Labor Party would be better served if they focused on what they were elected to do at the last state election, and that is to serve the people of Western Australia. These sorts of juvenile, university-level gibes do not do you any credit at all, Senator Sterle. Start focusing on public policy issues rather than on the internal matters of other parties. You have got enough to worry about in your party.