New leader, same old fight over GST carve-up

WA is the only state currently running budget surpluses, helped by the twin windfalls of record iron ore royalties and extra GST.

WA Premier Roger Cook has rubbished suggestions of changing the state’s GST arrangement.

Other states jealous of Western Australia’s GST deal should sort out their own finances rather than look for “excuses”, incoming WA premier Roger Cook says.

Speaking after a meeting of WA Labor Party MPs officially confirmed him as the man to replace Mark McGowan as leader, Mr Cook hit back at recent criticism of the GST system by South Australian Treasurer Stephen Mullighan.

Mr Mullighan on Monday described the GST carve-up – which guarantees WA keeps at least 70c of every dollar of GST it raises, regardless of the disproportionate size of its mining royalties haul – as “the greatest act of vandalism in our federation’s history”.

While he blamed the GST deal on the previous Coalition government, which introduced the system in 2018, Mr Cook noted Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Treasurer Jim Chalmers had repeatedly promised to maintain the arrangements.

“Both have confirmed that the GST deal will remain in place and we expect them to stick by their word,” Mr Cook said.

The criticism from SA follows similar comments in recent years from NSW and Victoria.

WA is the only state currently running budget surpluses, helped by the twin windfalls of record iron ore royalties and the added GST revenues, and Mr Cook said it was up to other states to take responsibility for their positions.

“It’s not time to look for excuses as to the reasons why they’re running deficits and debt budgets, they simply need to get on with the job of managing their state’s finances better,” he said.

Endorsement as the new Labor leader on Tuesday means Mr Cook will be formally sworn in as WA’s 31st premier on Thursday.

Mr Cook, who had a career working for Aboriginal corporations and advocacy groups before entering politics and whose wife, Carly Lane, is Indigenous, made it clear that reshaping the state’s trouble-plagued juvenile justice system would be a top priority.

The new premier had a briefing on the situation inside Banksia Hill juvenile detention facility on Tuesday, at the same time he was working on the delicate task of shuffling ministerial portfolios.

“I’m keen to understand the problems, the challenges and the opportunities that exist in that facility to make sure we can provide the level of guidance and support that it needs,” Mr Cook said.

Banksia Hill has been the subject of multiple riots in recent months, including one last month that saw several buildings burnt down, while both Banksia Hill and a dedicated unit within the state’s maximum-security prison have been repeatedly criticised for their treatment of young offenders.

Mr McGowan was scathing in his characterisation of young offenders during his time as premier and said fetal alcohol spectrum disorders were “no excuse” for bad behaviour.

Mr Cook struck a different tone. “I want to understand how the new models of care are being implemented and whether we need to redouble our efforts to implement those models of care,” he said, noting that of the 1200 young people in WA under custodial order, some 87 were in Banksia Hill.

“Of those 87 kids, there’s 87 different stories and reasons why they find themselves in these current circumstances,” he said. “We will now need to make sure we provide them with the support – the discipline and the support – that they need to get their lives back on the straight and narrow.”

Thursday’s swearing-in will be preceded by the unveiling of a small reshuffle of ministerial positions on Wednesday, with David Michael to be promoted to the ministry and first-term Indigenous MP Divina D’Anna appointed a parliamentary secretary.

Mr Cook on Tuesday declined to specify ministerial changes but his new deputy, Rita Saffioti, is considered certain to pick up her long-coveted role as treasurer.

Bill Johnston looks set to lose the corrective services portfolio, meaning responsibility for resolving Banksia Hill’s issues will move to a new set of hands.