Carving up the revenue from the GST – an in-depth discussion of ‘The Worst Australian Public Policy Decision of the 21st Century Thus Far’
Australian Society and Politics, Economic Policies, Recent Media Interview | 2nd October 2025
I had a long conversation with the host of ABC Radio’s “Nightlife” program, Philip Clark, about the way in which the distribution of GST revenue among Australia’s states and territories has been perverted by the desire of Federal politicians (from both sides of the aisle) to win votes and seats from Australia’s richest state, Western Australia, through what I’ve called “The Worst Australian Public Policy Decision of the 21st Century Thus Far” – one which has enabled Western Australia to post six consecutive budget surpluses while every other state and territory, and now the Federal Government itself, are running deficits. We also talked about prospects for tax reform more generally.