Opinion: Blaming Canberra has become a sport for Qld, WA
WA’s Mark McGowan and Queensland’s Annastacia Palaszczuk don’t need an excuse to take aim at Canberra, writes Peter Gleeson.
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With a federal election looming, and the omnipresence of the Canberra versus the states and territories argument, it’s worth taking a look at who the winners and losers are when it comes to the annual GST carve up.
Under the terms and conditions attached to the Commonwealth imposing a goods and services tax, the states and territories get to divvy up an annual monetary pie of $63 billion – about a quarter of their annual income.
The formula for working out who gets what among the states and territories is more complicated than a Sophie Monk TV show.
It’s predicated on everything from how well the individual entity performs o an economic basis – doing well lessens your GST booty – to the state of the housing market and revenue from mining royalties.
Nevertheless, because of its complexity, few state and territory leaders are ever happy.
WA’s Mark McGowan and Queensland’s Annastacia Palaszczuk don’t need an excuse to take aim at Canberra, run by the Coalition Government.
The figures reveal that NSW gets 95c for every dollar it raises in GST, up from 91c last year. That means NSW gets 30 per cent of the pie, about $20 billion.
In Victoria, it gets 92c for every dollar raised, down from 96c, about 25 per cent of the pie, or $16 billion.
In Queensland, the state gets $1.06 from Canberra in GST distribution for every dollar raised, up from $1.05, representing 21 per cent and $14 billion.
The NT gets $4.73 for every dollar raised, SA gets $1.35, Tasmania $1.96, the Act $1.15, and WA gets 41c for every dollar raised, but the WA formula has changed and is set to skyrocket.
In Queensland, Canberra bashing has become a sport.
Hospitals can’t cope? Blame Canberra.
Covid-19 border closures angering people? It’s Canberra’s fault.
Tourism industry going bust because of lockdowns and borders? It’s ScoMo’s fault.
Yet of the “big three’’ states, Queensland gets a much better GST distribution from the Coalition, a tidy sum of $14 billion.
That’s a whole lot of schools, hospitals and frontline health workers. Yet if you listened to the State Government, Canberra is a hindrance.
The true cost of the pandemic has been the mean-spirited way in which some of the states and territories have tried to shift the blame for the economic carnage brought about by poor policy.
NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet is running rings around his counterparts by setting an opening date, and sticking to it.
It won’t be easy and there will be those who doubt the move. But true leadership is being bold and courageous, not resorting to the status quo.
The easiest decision is not to make the decision. For Queensland and WA, this means a fortress-like approach to keeping the Delta strain out.
Keeping coronavirus out of our communities is a good thing. Nobody is denying the merit of keeping people safe.
However, the problem escalates when it is the only thing driving political decision-making. Other economic and mental health challenges are just as important.
The emotional toll on businesspeople and those denied the chance to see their loved ones is incalculable. The inability of people to travel back and forth to Queensland and WA from other states has been a dark stain on the Federation.
When Queensland gets to an 80 per cent vaccination rate by early December, maybe – just maybe – we could get a concession around borders.
However, the double vax target will be 90 per cent. The 80 per cent figure was never going to cut it in Queensland. And if we don’t get to 90 per cent?
It’s Canberra’s fault.
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Originally published as Opinion: Blaming Canberra has become a sport for Qld, WA