Daniel Andrews criticised by Mark McGowan over Commonwealth Games spending amid GST feud

Daniel Andrews has been joined by Victorian minsters in hitting back at a swipe by WA Premier Mark McGowan on Victoria’s Commonwealth Games spending.

Major Events Minister Martin Pakula has hit back at Mark McGowan’s attacks on Victoria, saying the Western Australia Premier was “on pretty good terms with himself”.

Mr Pakula on Thursday addressed comments made by the Labor leader in WA where he defended his state’s GST share and said governments in other states should spend their money more wisely.

He singled out the Commonwealth Games bid for regional Victoria as an example.

When asked about the swipe from a fellow Labor government, Mr Pakula said Mr McGowan was trying to turn their lack of major events into a positive.

“He’s on pretty good terms with himself, Mark,” he said.

“WA is just making a virtue of an inevitability, of a necessity.

“They had a couple of years when the eastern seaboard states were in Covid lockdowns and the like and they got a few events, but those days are over.

“So, probably better to pretend you don’t want them.”

Martin Pakula said Mark McGowan is linking unrelated topics in associating GST and the Games. Picture: David Crosling

Mr Pakula also said the WA Premier was linking two unrelated topics by associating GST share to the Commonwealth Games.

“The eastern seaboard states are being ripped off in GST terms,” he said.

“That’s an issue that really needs to be addressed and it’s completely separate to the issue of whether or not Victoria holds a Commonwealth Games or New South Wales holds other types of major events.

“They are great additions to the economies of our respective states.

“I’ve been to Perth and I’ve been to regional Victoria and I know where I’d rather be.”

Mr Pakula said the games was about more than the tourist dollars that came in during the event.

He pointed to upgraded sporting facilities for schools, new housing, broadcast rights and the people who would come to visit for years after seeing the state on their TV screens.

“Mark McGowan is entitled to his view,” he said.

“ I don’t know whether he’s just trying to deflect but the fact is we’ve got a wonderful regional offering in Victoria and the Commonwealth Games will showcase that.”

Martin Pakula said Mark McGowan was trying to turn their lack of major events into a positive. Picture: David Crosling

Dan won’t engage in ‘childish debates’ over Games spray

Daniel Andrews also hit back at his Labor counterpart’s attack on Victoria, declaring he won’t get involved in “childish debates with the Premier of any other state”.

On Wednesday, Premier Mark McGowan took a massive swipe at Victoria and the Andrews government’s spending on the Commonwealth Games in a dig over GST funding.

But Mr Andrews on Thursday said he wasn’t necessarily surprised by Mark McGowan’s spray, in which he singled out Victoria for spending billions of dollars on the Commonwealth Games and calling for changes to the GST carve-up.

“I’m not here to have childish debates with the Premier of any other state,” Mr Andrews responded.

“Our position has always been that we don’t want more than we’re entitled to, but we won’t settle for less. We’re not the ones asking for more than we are entitled to.

“Premier McGowan has had some things to say, that’s fine. We’ll just get on and deliver the best Commonwealth Games ever that creates jobs and showcases regional Victoria to the world.

“And we’ll also get on with the biggest budget turnaround that our state has ever seen.

“Covid has done a lot of damage in our state, but we are back, we are open, and it’s a credit to every single Victorian and anyone who tries to diminish that, whether they’re all the way from the west or on the other side of the parliament from me, they’re wrong.”

Asked if Mr McGowan’s comments came as a surprise given he was a Labor Premier, Mr Andrews said: “Not really. I haven’t given them a lot of thought, actually.”

Daniel Andrews says he won’t get into a ‘childish’ debate with WA Premier Mark McGowan. Picture: AAP

“I’m not here to reflect on every comment made by every First Minister,” he said.

“None of my Premier colleagues should ever expect that I will stop arguing for a fair share for our state.”

Mr Andrews said he expected that health funding — and advocating for a 50:50 partnership from the Commonwealth — would be at the top of the agenda when he next spoke to Mr McGowan.

“I think I’ll be talking to him about (creating) as united a front as we can possibly put to the Commonwealth government to not proceed with Scott Morrison’s cutbacks, but to carve out a Labor agenda that’s true to our values,” he said.

Mr Andrews revealed that he had a phone conversation with New South Wales Liberal Premier Dominic Perrottet on Wednesday night.

“I get along with First Ministers of all political persuasions,” he added.

The leaders are expected to meet with new Prime Minister Anthony Albanese for the first national cabinet under a federal Labor government.

But Mr Andrews said a date for the event had yet to be decided.

Mr McGowan on Wednesday faced questions about his state’s carve-up of revenue from the GST and said he had been assured the Commonwealth would not bend to pressure from other states to change the current arrangement.

“The arrangement is permanent as far as I’m concerned and that’s the assurance I’ve had from all of my now federal colleagues,” he said.

Treasurer Tim Pallas has repeatedly said Victoria is being dudded under the current GST set-up and wants the Commonwealth to reform the system.

WA Premier Mark McGowan has taken a swipe at the Andrews government. Picture: AAP

But Mr McGowan hit back at the state when questioned over the long-running dispute, saying other governments should manage their budgets better.

He singled out Victoria for spending billions of dollars on the Commonwealth Games.

“Maybe they should make different decisions,” Mr McGowan said.

“We decided not to go for the Commonwealth Games because I didn’t want to, in an uncertain world, go and spend $2.5bn on something that is a ‘nice to have’ while what we want to do is fund our hospitals properly, deal with important health issues, pay down debt (and) diversify the economy.”

A state government spokesman hit back at the comments on Wednesday night.

“We make no apologies for investing in regional Victoria and creating thousands of jobs for Victorians,” he said.

“We’ll always fight every day for Victoria’s fair share of Commonwealth funding – Victorians expect nothing less.”

Opposition leader Matthew Guy hit back at the WA Premier, saying he had a “nasty streak”.

“Mark McGowan has a nasty streak that I think everyone is starting to see,” he said.

“There is no need to attack Victoria like that.

“We’re trying to get our regions back on their feet…he just wants to just deeply attack anything that’s not his idea.”

Mr Guy backed the state government’s spending on the Commonwealth Games.

“No, I don’t think it’s a waste of money,” he said.

But Shadow Treasurer David Davis said he agreed with the WA Premier in part.

“He is absolutely wrong on the Commonwealth Games. Victorians want the Commonwealth Games,” he said.

But he is totally right on Victorian Labor’s incompetence and mismanagement of the Victorian budget with more than $28bn of cost blowouts due to the incompetence of the Victorian government, mainly before Covid.

“McGowan is also right to point to Andrews’ failure to run the health system properly.”

Mr Davis said he believed Victoria deserved a better deal on GST.

“Of course, Victoria has been and is being ripped off on the GST and on that I agree with the Victorian Treasurer,” he said.

“But that is no excuse for Labor’s spectacular failures and surging Victorian debt.”