Treasurer to announce GST peace deal
TREASURER Josh Frydenberg will announce a peace deal on the GST overhaul with the government caving into pressure and now agreeing to guarantee in law that no state will be worse off.
NSW
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TREASURER Josh Frydenberg will announce a peace deal on the GST overhaul with the government caving into pressure and now agreeing to guarantee in law that no state will be worse off.
But the guarantee, which has been demanded by state treasurers and concerned Senators, will only be in place until 2026-27 when the new system of carving up the cash will be fully in place.
Mr Frydenbeg is expected to say the compromise will ensure everyone is better off and happy with the changes.
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The Daily Telegraph also understand that the government will commit to the another productivity commission inquiry into the new system, which will set a floor so every state receives at least 75 cents for every dollar of GST paid, is working as planned.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison had been facing a backbench revolt on the plan with Tasmanian Senators considering crossing the floor to vote back a Labor amendment to ensure no state loses out.
The concession will be seen as a win for NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrottet who was vocal in the need for the guarantee and had lobbied NSW Senators.
SA Treasurer Rob Lucas also wrote to his federal colleagues to support the guarantee.
The Daily Telegraph revealed yesterday the pressure from backbenchers concerned their home states would be ripped off under the overhaul was forcing the Morrison government to consider backing a Senate inquiry into the plan, which could have delayed the changes coming into effect.
Mr Perrottet welcomed the federal government’s new GST plan.
“Today is a great day for the people of NSW, we have argued the case that no case should be worse off as a result of these changes. We have taken the case to Canberra and today we have won a great result for the people on NSW,” he said.
Mr Perrottet said NSW would continue to fight to not have to “subsidise lazy states” like Western Australia.
“We have argued for a long time over the course of the past 12 months that states that reform should be rewarded not penalized. The people of NSW continue to subsidise lazy state, inefficient states that don’t reform. That remains the case today and it will remain the case into the future. We will continue to prosecute that case because we believe that states that reform should be rewarded not penalized as a result of the GST distribution,” he said.