Interview with Geof Parry, 7 News Perth
1 October 2018
GEOF PARRY: Amelia, thanks very much. Prime Minister, thanks for joining us.
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks, Geoff.
PARRY: I’ve lost count on how many stories I’ve written on the GST. Is there light at the end of the tunnel?
PRIME MINISTER: Well absolutely. There’s $4.7 billion of additional support or thereabouts for WA over the next eight years, and we’re putting it into law. We’re changing the formula, we’re legislating the floor on the system, and we’re putting additional funds in.
PARRY: The legislation is important to Western Australians, because you know the last thing they want to do is they have it sort of plucked away from them in a couple of years’ time. It’s not going to happen is it?
PRIME MINISTER: No it won’t, and that’s why we’re going to put it into law. I mean, we came up with the plan to change the system, not just provide top ups, not just provide a floor, but to change the way it was actually calculated. Change the formula, and that was the big change, and we’re going to make those changes law.
PARRY: In previous years, and we’re very familiar with this, we get whingers from other states about any attempts to change it. Why do you think that you’re going to get it through now?
PRIME MINISTER: Well we’ve got a more than a billion dollar a year guarantee. That means no state… all states and territories are better off. And so we’re making that investment so we can make the change, and so all states and territories will get more support for their hospitals, for their schools, for their police officers. So this is as good a deal as you can get, because we knew we had to invest in making the system fairer, and that means investing to ensure all states and territories are better off.
PARRY: Western Australians are pretty savvy about the GST. Is there real structural reform here?
PRIME MINISTER: Yeah there is. This is the biggest change to the GST since it was introduced, and this is why we took our time to get it right. I mean, we knew you just couldn’t do top ups and we know others were just suggesting that. The Labor Party was suggesting that. We said the formula had to change. They didn’t agree with us, but I’m pleased to hear now that they will and so they should come and support the legislation that we’ll be introducing into the Parliament in a few weeks’ time.
PARRY: This has been a very long, sad, sorry story, GST in Western Australia, over many years. Different Premiers, different Prime Ministers. Why have you pulled this off, why have you been able to pull this off?
PRIME MINISTER: Look I believe in a fair go for those who have a go, and WA has a go. You know, they’re a great entrepreneurial state, they’ve been getting the rough end of this deal for some period of time and we’ve been able to get ourselves in a position where we can right this. And the legislation will right it. The change in the formula, which is what we have championed and we’ll get this right, and I’m pleased that we can deliver it. We’re keeping our promise.
PARRY: Labor’s claiming a little bit of credit for this.
PRIME MINISTER: Well they were nowhere on this Geoff. They didn’t even want to change the formula. And I’m happy for them to play catch up and support our change, and I’m happy to work very closely with the WA Government here. It’s all about getting the right outcome and you know, when you get it right like we have, everyone wants to be part of it and that’s great.
PARRY: Prime Minister, enjoy the rest of your time in the best state in Australia.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, and congratulations to the West Coast Eagles. It was good to see the boys a little earlier. So that’s two wins - West Coast and the GST.
PARRY: Back to you Amelia.
