Budget 2014: State leaders calls for urgent COAG meeting as Prime Minister Tony Abbott says he has been ‘absolutely upfront’ about state funding

STATE and territory leaders are calling for an urgent meeting with the Abbott Government to discuss federal Budget cuts.

STATE and territory leaders are calling for an urgent meeting with the Abbott Government to discuss federal budget cuts.

The leaders made the call for a COAG meeting after emerging from their summit in Sydney today.

Only Western Australia’s Premier Colin Barnett missed today’s meeting to discuss $80 billion in health and education funding cuts in Tuesday’s budget.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Treasurer Joe Hockey have justified the cuts by saying hospitals and schools are a state and territory responsibility, and they should find their own sources of funding.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Queensland Premier Campbell Newman described the cuts as “completely unacceptable”. “There needs to be an urgent meeting of COAG before the 1st of July this year because we need to, on behalf of Australians, sort this out,” he said.

Ealrlier, Mr Abbott told the ABC voters were “on notice” before the election that he would make big cuts to spending and insists that he has been “absolutely upfront” with the states over health and education funding — despite the Budget stripping them of $80 billion.

Last Tuesday’s federal Budget shocked states by including $80 billion in cuts over 10 years, achieved by dumping school and hospital deals struck with the previous Labor government.

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Mr Abbott told the ABC’s Insiders program that the the Coalition repeatedly talked about the budget problems before the election.

“You might remember the mantra - it was stop the boats, repeal the carbon tax, build the roads of the 21st century, and get the budget back under control,” he said.

“So people, I think, were on notice that we were going to do what was necessary to ensure that we were not being a burden on our children and grandchildren.”

Mr Abbott said the Coalition had done “precisely” what it said it would do before winning the election.

“We said we would honour the then-government’s commitments over the then-forward estimates. We said we weren’t bound by their pie-in-the-sky promises for the out years. We said it was unsustainable. We said it was undeliverable. We are not going to try to deliver it,” he said.

“We’re not talking about next week or next month or even next year. We’re talking about changes in three years’ time.

The Prime Minister said he had been open with the states about the cuts before last year’s election.

“We said we would honour the then government’s commitments over the then (four-year) forward estimates,” he told the ABC. “We said that we weren’t bound by their pie-in-the-sky promises for the out years.

“We’ve just been absolutely upfront with the states.”

There’s been speculation the budget cuts will force the states to call for an increase to the GST rate or a widening of its base.

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Labor’s Shadow Treasurer Chris Bowen today said it will proactively engage in debate about the GST but won’t commit to supporting a raise.

“We’re more than happy to have a debate,” he told Sky News today.

“We’ve never said there shouldn’t be a discussion about the GST.”

Greens leader Christine Milne though says her party will not support an increase, either by raising the rate or broadening the base.

She said the GST conversation has arisen from unacceptable blackmailing of the states.

The Prime Minister says it’s up to the states to decide on GST measures.

Originally published as Budget 2014: State leaders calls for urgent COAG meeting as Prime Minister Tony Abbott says he has been ‘absolutely upfront’ about state funding