Breaking: Angry WA premier lashes 'east-coast clowns' on explosive GST report

WA Premier Roger Cook lashes 'east coast clowns' over interim Productivity Commission GST report An angry Roger Cook has labelled those opposed to the GST carve up as "east coast clowns" and described an explosive report into GST distribution as an "attack" on Western Australians. Western Australia was the only state or territory to benefit from 2018 changes to GST, according to the Productivity Commission's interim report into the reforms. The GST distribution was supposed to help each jurisdiction provide services and infrastructure to the same standard. "However, as a result of the reforms, Western Australia received enough GST revenue to meet 113 per cent of its assessed fiscal needs in 2024-25 — compared with 98 per cent for all other states," the interim report said. Premier Roger Cook said any changes to the GST distribution would unfairly punish WA for its success "simply to prop up other lazy states". He said the Productivity Commission's report was "an attack on every hard working Western Australian". "It's a sign that these east coast clowns simply do not understand Western Australia, they have no Western Australian representative, and no idea,"Mr Cook said. WA's mining boom drove up the state's ability to fund itself, meaning it received less GST, while the GST formula also meant WA was caught short when mining royalties fell after the global financial crisis. "This produced a sentiment among many Western Australians that the state was 'losing' its revenue," the commission's interim report said. The commission said political pressure from the WA government at the time partially influenced the 2018 reforms. Loading