ASHLEIGH GILLON
INSIGHT: No end in sight for the
Can the blossoming bromance between NSW Opposition Leader Chris Minns and WA Premier Mark McGowan go the distance in 2023?
West Australians are terrified of losing their now higher GST share and on this front seem to have found an unlikely ally in Labor’s Minns. A campaign stop across the Nullarbor in Perth for an aspiring NSW Premier is highly unusual but that’s exactly what Minns did. He was on a “fact finding” mission regarding train manufacturing but while in WA, he was harangued by the local press to declare his support for the current GST arrangements. Side-by-side with Newcastle born McGowan, Minns wouldn’t rule out a row but took a much chummier approach to the man Dominic Perrottet labelled the “Gollum” of Australian politics. Instead of demanding WA get a reduced share as we’ve heard ad nauseam from Perrottet, Minns echoed McGowan by declaring NSW needed to get its own books in order “before we start lecturing every other jurisdiction in the country”.
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Morrison pledged to end the GST wars with his changes back in 2018 but with a review slated for 2026 the states are spoiling for another fight. Federally, the top-up payments ensuring “no state is worse off” from Morrison’s carve-up are blowing out from an expected $2bn to $24 billion at a time when Treasurer Jim Chalmers is looking to tighten the nation’s fiscal belt. Anthony Albanese, thankful to WA for securing his election win, will have some tricky national cabinet conversations ahead, despite the room being decidedly washed in red. When McGowan unveils an iron ore-fuelled operating surplus forecast at $1.84bn in May, it will be hard for any premier to keep the green-eyed monster at bay. Not to mention the additional billion dollars-plus McGowan has already sucked from the state’s resources giants for a WA “community investment fund.” If Minns does emerge as Premier overseeing the NSW coffers described by his new mate McGowan as “a basket case”, West Australians will be watching closely to see if Minns sharpens his tune on the GST.
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