NT could lose out in GST plan

THIS week began with a debate over whether the Northern Territory was finally ready to achieve statehood. Not yet, but soon, was the answer from Chief Minister Michael Gunner

THIS week began with a debate over whether the Northern Territory was finally ready to achieve statehood. Not yet, but soon, was the answer from Chief Minister Michael Gunner.

The week is ending with talk that the NT could lose its right to self-government, should proposed changes to the way federal GST revenue is distributed go ahead.

According to the NT Government, messing with the distribution formula could mean the “Territory would not be able to function as an independent, self-governing jurisdiction and would not be able to provide state-like services to its population without increasing taxes to levels that would make it unviable”.

It’s a bleak and dramatic prediction.

But it’s clear that it’s not purely hyperbole.

The NT receives half of its total revenue through the GST. While on the face of it, we receive far more than our “fair share” while strong states such as Western Australia get ripped off, those headline figures don’t tell the full story.

It costs much more to do the same in the NT.

Our remoteness and our incredible levels of disadvantage means it’s almost impossible to compare the cost of delivering basic services such as health and education here to those same costs elsewhere.

We hope the Productivity Commission and Treasurer Scott Morrison see sense and abandon the proposed changes. But it doesn’t look great. Mr Morrison has expressed his support for the new model, which he said would provide “fairer treatment” for WA.

If he doesn’t budge, the NT Government may live to regret making such dire predictions about our future. We’ll need every scrap of business confidence we can get to push through under a new, unfair system.