Editorial: NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrottet’s attack on Premier Mark McGowan’s GST defence out of line

What cheek. In fact, the attack by NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrottet on Premier Mark McGowan’s stated determination to defend WA’s share of the GST was way out of line. And coming as it did from a senior member of the NSW Liberal-led State Government, it may actually be the sort of behaviour which will do that party’s brand more harm than good. Mr Perrottet’s outburst came in response to Thursday’s WA State Budget, which showed a record-breaking $5.6 billion surplus last financial year. Mr McGowan said he believed the other States would use the Budget as a platform to make another bid to unravel the GST. Changes to GST distribution in 2018 — delivered by then Federal treasurer Scott Morrison — ensure WA keeps at least 70¢ of every dollar of GST revenue collected. Mr McGowan has said that without the fix, WA’s share of GST revenue would have plunged to as low as 10¢ in the dollar by 2024. Mr Morrison has sought to reassure WA that he would stick to the deal. But that was not going to stop Mr Perrottet. “Mark McGowan is the Gollum of Australian politics. You can just picture him over there in his cave with his little precious — the GST,” Mr Perrottet said. And, incredibly, after the NSW Government’s mishandling of the COVID outbreak, he attacked, saying previous WA governments did not do enough forward planning for when times were not booming. The deal WA struck with the Federal Government ensured that was maintained — which was “not good public policy”. WA Liberal senator Ben Small called it right, saying NSW was “acting like a sore loser”. “Scott Morrison stands firm behind WA and won’t bend to pressure or petulance from NSW or anywhere else in the east,” Senator Small said. Senator Small should be backed by all WA Federal Liberal MPs. West Australians are sick of the carping from the east. With a Federal election looming, senior WA Liberals should be urging their colleagues in the east to put a sock in it.