Editor’s view: Treasurer Jim Chalmers must fix Qld GST rip-off

It’s a bit rich that Queenslanders are faced with a reduction in our share of the GST because we happen to be one of the few states left with a strong coal industry.

Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers at Parliament House in Canberra. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

It’s a bit rich that we Queenslanders are faced with a reduction in our share of the GST because we happen to be one of the few states left with a strong coal industry.

This week we were told all Australian states will receive a higher annual GST contribution … except for us.

The Commonwealth Grants Commission delivered the news outlining how Victoria will get nearly $4 billion more than last year and New South Wales an extra $1.297 billion.

Even mineral rich Western Australia will benefit from its “no worse off guarantee’’ hammered out with the previous Scott Morrison-led Federal Government which ensured the state gets back around 75 cents in the dollar on GST revenue, even as iron ore prices rose.

Queensland, on the other hand, will receive $2.371 billion less due to “significant growth in its capacity to earn coal royalties”.

It may be an unfashionable observation to make, but much of the infrastructure of this state has been built on coal money ever since former Under Treasurer Sir Leo Hielscher reformed the coal royalty system half a century ago.

Today it’s abundantly clear that, despite the Federal Government’s approval of a few new coal mines, Federal Energy Minister Chris Bowen is determined to phase out coal fired power stations and, in the long term, wind up Australia’s coal industry.

Queensland Treasurer David Janetzki says the state’s finances will be hampered by any GST cutback. Picture: Steve Pohlner

Yet the presence of coal in this state – the very thing that the present Federal Government appears to regard as a global bogeyman – means we get short-changed more than $2 billion from the GST distribution.

For an industry supposedly on the nose, the Federal Government appears quite ready to acknowledge the financial contribution coal miners deliver to Queensland, and adjust its books accordingly.

Queensland Treasurer David Janetzki, quite rightly, immediately called out the “shonky shifting’’ of Queenslanders’ money to deliver a better payout for NSW and Victoria.

This GST redistribution is vital as funding for infrastructure, education and health and can represent nearly half of our annual revenues.

It is true that in 2022 the Labor Government increased royalties on the back of record high coal prices in a move which added more than $15 billion to the 2023 budget.

But that money was quickly swallowed as Labor attempted to buy its way back into power as the 2024 election loomed.

As Mr Janetzki says, this move by the Commonwealth will severely restrict this state’s finances over the next few years.

As the State Treasurer also says, it might be time for his federal counterpart to step up to the plate.

Queensland-based federal treasurer Jim Chalmers might like to use his influence inside the Federal Government to protect the livelihoods of Queenslanders including frontline workers who stand to be most affected if, as the state government has warned, has to cut back on this vital services.

Heroes team up to save precious life

Just like you can count on a natural disaster every summer in Queensland, so too can you count on the generosity and heroism of the Australian spirit in a crisis.

Nothing has shown this more than the frantic race to save 22-year-old Mia Preston’s life as Cyclone Alfred terrorised the coast last week.

She only had one chance – a stem cell transplant to treat her leukaemia. Once the donated cells are harvested, they are only viable for 72 hours.

The clock was ticking to get them from the US to Brisbane when flights were grounded as wild winds and weather, courtesy of Cyclone Alfred, lashed the state’s southeast.

That’s when a group of selfless people stepped up – including Stem Cell Donors Australia’s Garth Healey, American courier Alex Schraeer, brave QAS paramedics, medicos at the RBWH and Health Minister Tim Nicholls’s office.

Mr Healey and Mr Schraeer put their lives on the line to drive the stem cells from Sydney where the plane with the precious cargo had been diverted.

QAS then joined their mercy mission acting as escorts across the border. They got to the hospital with just an hour to spare.

Thanks to these literal life savers, Mia now has a chance at life.

Responsibility for election comment is taken by Melanie Pilling, corner of Mayne Rd & Campbell St, Bowen Hills, Qld 4006. Printed and published by NEWSQUEENSLAND (ACN 009 661 778). Contact details are available at www.couriermail.com.au/help/contact-us

Originally published as Editor’s view: Treasurer Jim Chalmers must fix Qld GST rip-off