McGowan hits back at Andrews in premiers’ war of words

The WA Premier has struck back over comments made by his Victorian counterpart following a new GST carve-up.

There is renewed tension between the states following a new GST deal struck between Western Australia and the Federal Government.

WA Premier Mark McGowan on Thursday found himself having to hit back at a comment from Victoria’s Daniel Andrews in a war of words in which Mr Andrews called the new tax agreement a “sweetheart deal”.

“Being in government is very, very hard,” said Mr Andrews at a media conference on Tuesday.

“So you want to keep WA better off, then don’t think that we are paying for it, because we are not – we are just not.”

“(Other states) have not lost a single dollar” says Mark McGowan. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

“You want to keep WA better off, then don’t think that we are paying for it” slammed Daniel Andrews. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Geraghty

Under a Morrison government deal, the full extent of which was revealed during a Commonwealth Grants Commission ruling on GST distributions on Tuesday, WA will receive 70c of every GST dollar raised from the 2022-23 financial year – going up to 75c in 2023-24.

“Victoria, South Australia, Queensland, NSW, Tasmania, Norther Territory and the ACT have not lost a single dollar,” said Mr McGowan in a media conference on Thursday.

“In fact, the economic success of Western Australia has boosted the amount of money they’ve received, so there’s really nothing to complain about.”

Other Premiers are yet to weigh in on the matter.

Originally published as McGowan hits back at Andrews in premiers’ war of words