Fatima Payman (WA, Australia's Voice) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to take note of the minister's response and I commend Senator Dean Smith for bringing this before us and persevering in getting answers for Western Australians. I want to also reiterate how important this is for Western Australia. For us the GST is not a technical formula or a budget footnote; it is a reminder of the decades we spent being short-changed, watching our wealth leave and not come back. Senator Dean Smith would agree with me that we have earned the right to demand answers.

For too long, WA was treated as the federation's golden goose. We dug the iron ore, we shipped the gas, we bankrolled the nation's prosperity and then we watched Canberra hand our money to other states while Western Aussies went without. At the depth of the old system, WA received just 30c back for every dollar we contributed. At one point, we were $6 billion a year short of our fair share. Sometimes $1 billion is hard to conceptualise. For Western Aussies watching, that would build us three women and babies hospitals with a price tag of $1.8 billion, with some change to spare.

The 2018 reforms fixed that. They were hard fought, hard won and absolutely essential. Today I want to acknowledge Premier Cook and the state government and the premiers before him for continuing to stand firm. WA isn't asking for some special treatment. We're asking for what is fair and we intend to keep it. Right now, like Senator Dean Smith mentioned, the Productivity Commission is reviewing these very reforms, with a final report due in December 2026. Every Western Australian should be paying close attention: what was won can be undone.

That is exactly why order No. 304 exists—to demand that the Treasurer put on the table every piece of correspondence, every briefing note, every model and every minute relating to GST distribution. We don't want any more backroom deals or stitched-up arrangements negotiated over Western Australians' heads. The sandgropers have been dudded before. We know what it looks like and we will not be going back.

Question agreed to.