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WA's treasurer says there is absolutely no compromise on the table with other states and territories ahead of a looming GST review, arguing the existing deal "should be the minimum". Rita Saffioti and Premier Roger Cook started their GST offensive this week with the launch of a $1 million campaign aimed at educating the eastern states coinciding with a visit to the nation's capital. The pair wanted direct reassurance from Prime Minister Anthony Albanese WA's current GST carve up won't be touched ahead of a Productivity Commission review into the distribution, which is not due to produce a final report until the end of 2026. "We don't want to be on the back foot," Ms Saffioti told Stateline. "We don't want to be responding to attacks or further attacks from the eastern states about a GST deal … [I] absolutely trust the prime minister and the federal government, but what we want to do is make sure that we stop or blunt the attacks from the eastern states." The WA government wants 2018 reforms by the Morrison government that gave the state at least 75 cents for every dollar of GST revenue to stay put, signalling there's no wiggle room. "We still contribute $2.5 billion each year to the other states, so the minimum for us is to keep the existing deal," Ms Saffioti said. Heavy hitters show support The state government has been on the front foot since Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers released the terms of reference for the GST review in September, however Ms Saffioti rejects the suggestion WA's attack was premature. "The submissions are due by February, so there's a lot of work being done," she said. "We've also had a lot of engagement from industry in WA. "We've got WA industry wanting to back and be loud on our message to protect our GST deal." The treasurer said she had some "very interested big business figures" rounded up to help with her GST fight — mining magnate Andrew 'Twiggy' Forrest, property developer Nigel Satterley and businessman Michael Chaney to name a few. Contentious issue She may have the support from some heavy hitters, but WA's GST deal continues to face a battering from states and territories, with many arguing others are paying the price for WA's special deal. It's something Ms Saffioti flatly refutes. "Well, they don't because through the no-worse-off guarantee, they are in the similar position as they would be without the deal," she said. Ms Saffioti argues other states are "better off" with the current deal because 90 per cent of iron ore royalties are redistributed to them, backed up by the federal government. But eastern states critics still think the current deal produces a healthy WA surplus and argue it's not "working for Australia" as the government's advertisements suggest. "Absolutely it works for Australia," Ms Saffioti said. "One of our key messages is that a strong WA economy helps drive a strong national economy and also helps the federal budget bottom line." Where to from here? Ms Saffioti has butted heads with those critics in recent weeks — namely Tasmanian economist Saul Eslake. Mr Eslake has labelled WA's current deal "the worst public policy decision of the 21st century", arguing WA is not spending any more than other states on economic infrastructure. "No, he actually got that wrong. So when you look at the total public sector, he just measured the general government sector," Ms Saffioti quipped. "When you factor in total public sector, including our government utilities, we actually spend the highest on economic infrastructure." As for other GST models such as distribution per capita, Ms Saffioti said WA would be even better off. "A GST per capita would see WA getting more GST, and so a GST per capita would see WA getting another $2.5 billion," she said. "Some states have argued for that, and of course we would back [that] if that's where people want to go, we would back that in."
