Albanese backs WA’s GST floor, vows no change while PM
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has promised there will be no change to Western Australia’s GST deal while he remains in office. Standing alongside Premier R...
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has promised there will be no change to Western Australia’s GST deal while he remains in office. Standing alongside Premier Roger Cook in Henderson on Monday, he said the 75-cent floor introduced in 2018 will stay in place.
The pledge settles, at least for now, a fight that had sharpened after the Productivity Commission recommended returning to the pre-2018 formula. WA has argued the current system reflects its contribution to the national economy. Several eastern states have complained it leaves them shortchanged.
Albanese draws a line
“What I believe is very clearly there will be no change to WA’s GST arrangements while I’m Prime Minister,” Albanese said. “That is my view. That has consistently been my view.”
He added that the floor of 75 per cent would “absolutely stay” and said WA “deserves that” because it helps drive the national economy. The Prime Minister rejected suggestions his earlier promise of a “fair share” left room for manoeuvre or had fed the familiar WA-versus-east coast rivalry.
“I’ve said it multiple times,” he said, stressing the point after days of renewed debate. The row has been politically sensitive for years, because the formula decides how GST revenue is redistributed between states and territories.
Why the GST fight matters
The issue goes well beyond Canberra politics. GST distributions affect state budgets, service delivery and the scope for infrastructure spending. Under the commission’s proposed changes, WA would lose billions, according to the source material, while state leaders warn the impact would be immediate and severe.
That is why the 2018 reform remains central. It was designed to prevent WA from being penalised too heavily for the wealth it generates. Albanese’s latest backing means the federal government is not moving to reopen that settlement, despite pressure from other states and fresh criticism from the Productivity Commission review.
He also appeared open to extending the no-worse-off guarantee to top up other states, a measure that already cost Australian taxpayers $23 billion in 2024-25. That figure was four times higher than the amount cited alongside the current debate in the source material, underlining how expensive any wider compensation could become.
Political stakes in Perth
The GST pledge came during a three-day Perth visit that also includes a federal cabinet meeting and Labor fundraising events. Albanese toured the BAE Systems shipyard in Henderson on Monday and dismissed criticism that he had failed to visit nearby Secret Harbour during the state by-election campaign.
“Yes I am here, and I’m doing my job as Prime Minister of Australia, announcing jobs and economic activity,” he said.
For WA, the message was blunt. No shift. No reopening. And, for now, no change to the 75-cent floor that sits at the heart of the state’s GST deal.
