Peter Georgiou (WA, Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question to the Minister for Finance, Senator Cormann. Minister, earlier this month, Perth's TheSunday Times published an article suggesting the government is getting ready to announce an 80c GST floor for Western Australia. We also saw, today, that a poll conducted by the WA chamber of commerce has confirmed that the GST is the No. 1 issue in the state. As a Western Australian based minister, can you confirm that you and Prime Minister Turnbull will be announcing, at the Liberal Party state conference in Perth later this year, some good GST news that your fellow Western Australians finally deserve?

Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The story in The Sunday Times, which I also read, does not reflect the position of the government. That was something that was entirely written up by the columnist involved. What I will say to you is that, of course, the Turnbull government acknowledges that WA's share of the GST is unfair. We've said that for some time. We were the first government that actually did something to stop the drop in WA's share of the GST. Under the Gillard government, when WA's share of the GST started dropping, it was heading towards below 30c in the dollar. We were the first federal government that provided a federal top-up payment to Western Australia, and we've made $1.4 billion worth of federal top-up payments to Western Australia so far—which is a policy, incidentally, that the Leader of the Opposition has since copied and tried to rebrand, and he has promised that for 2019-20 onwards.

We have also said that we do believe there is a structural issue to be addressed. That is why we commissioned the Productivity Commission review, which reported in mid-May. The Treasurer has received the Productivity Commission's report, which has assessed the implications of GST sharing arrangements for national productivity and growth. That is something that will be considered by the government and released in due course.

Scott Ryan (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Georgiou, a supplementary question.

Peter Georgiou (WA, Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Productivity Commission has finished its report into the GST review. Can you advise that the report will be released to the public this week?

Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I cannot confirm that it will be released this week. What I can confirm is that it will be released very soon.

Opposition Senators:

Opposition senators interjecting—

Scott Ryan (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order on my left! Senator Georgiou, a final supplementary question.

Peter Georgiou (WA, Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

When the report is released, do you expect it to contain favourable news for WA—that is, can we expect recommendations that suggest Western Australia deserves a bigger distribution of the GST compared to the paltry 47c in the dollar that the state is set to receive this financial year?

Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I can't pre-empt a report that is yet to be released. What I can say is that WA's share of the GST, based on what we know today under the current system, is expected to continue to increase in the years ahead. This financial year, because of the decisions that our government has made, we have lifted WA's share of the GST, through a further GST top-up payment, to 50c in the dollar. Over the next few years it is expected to go past 60c in the dollar. There will be recommendations that we will consider, and, at the appropriate time, the report and the government's response will be released.