Tasmania "will not accept to be worse off" because of the imminent split of the GST, the treasurer promises



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Updated

July 2, 2018 18:17:26

  State and Territory Leaders Meet for COAG 2018.

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Tasmania, along with all other states and territories, will want a lot of GST distribution. Tasmanian Treasurer Peter Gutwein dismissed speculative news reports suggesting that the state could face a $ 600 million cut to its share of the GST according to a new distribution model envisioned by the federal government .

The federal government is expected to announce its decision on the distribution of the GST this week, after receiving the final report from the Productivity Commission in May.

News Corp. reported that Federal Treasurer Scott Morrison is preparing to announce changes to the Fiscal Equalization method that would divide the GST by equalizing the average of the states, rather than equalizing it according to the amount of money. best performing state.

The reports indicate that the federal government would implement a transition regime to provide additional funding to certain states during the transition period.

However, the suggestion of "supplemental financing" to reduce the impact of TPS 's revenue loss has been criticized by stakeholders, including Chief Economist Saul Eslake and the US. Independent Denison MHR Andrew Wilkie.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull declined to comment on the reports, but said his goal was to ensure that all states were treated fairly.

"Our commitment is to have a fair GST system, which pbades the pub test in Burnie, Bunbury, Bundaberg, Bathurst and Bendigo, across the country," Turnbull said.

million. Gutwein urged people to "settle in".

"There is a lot of speculation right now," Gutwein said.

"The Prime Minister and I have engaged in constructive discussions with the Prime Minister and the Treasurer (Scott Morrison) and we will certainly accept nothing worse than Tasmania."

million. Eslake said the change discussed in the reports, if implemented, Tasmania could again become a "requesting state", forced to rely on the Commonwealth's thanks every year for subsidies.

"This payment will be at the mercy of any future federal government. problems, "he said.

" There is no guarantee that this transitional payment will increase according to the needs of Tasmania and other states for the expenses of schools or hospitals, police and other . "

<img src =" http://www.abc.net.au/news/image/8545962-3×2-700×467.jpg "alt =" Tasmanian Treasurer Peter Gutwein and Prime Minister Will Hodgman.
Tasmanian Treasurer Peter Gutwein and Premier Will Hodgman pledge to fight the GST changes.
Disastrous consequences according to current model, say critics

University of Tasmania's political scientist, Richard Eccleston, said changing the distribution of the GST could increase inequalities between States

. would be one of the worst results of the Productivity Commission's report for Tasmania in the long run.

"What is clear is that there are significant long-term risks to Tasmania," said Professor Eccleston. "Perhaps most importantly, the Australian system of horizontal equalization across the federation has been undermined, which, based on international experience, will result in greater regional inequality and risk undermining national political cohesion."

increased by $ 741 million over the last decade, which equates to nearly 12% of state government spending in 2017-2018.

If the funding for Tasmania had been frozen in 2008 and the spending remained unchanged, the state budget would have generated an operating deficit of just under $ 700 million rather than a surplus of 54 million.

million. Wilkie The current GST formula was that it was fixed and provided a fair result.

"To suddenly submit the amount of GST to Tasmania to the federal government of the time and the circumstances of the government at the time puts us at very serious risk in a year," said Mr. Wilkie.

"The problem with supplements is that you are at the mercy of the government of the day, you are at the mercy of the budget before you."

We will join the fight for Tasmania's Labor leader, Rebecca White, said that changing the GST distribution to equalize it from the average state rather than the strongest state would be the "worst case scenario" for Tasmania.

Ms. White said she would be happy to join Prime Minister Will Hodgman in lobbying the federal government in Canberra against changes that would negatively impact the Tasmanian GST portion.

"I do not think this is a good result for Tasmania, what we want is that the distribution methodology does not change," Ms. White said.

"We are all citizens of Australia, the reason we have the distribution methodology in place is that no matter where you live you have access to the same level of services as an Australian citizen and that Is why the distribution methodology is so

"Any variation to this, even if there are additional payments, means that there is uncertainty as to the level of income that Tasmania and other small states can expect to receive. "

Tasmanian Liberal Senator Eric" We remain confident that Tasmania will not be at a disadvantage and that it will receive a lot of money " , said Senator Abetz.

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Published

02 July 2018 18:13:11

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