The Australian Financial Review published an op-ed article from me on the Commonwealth Grants Commission’s recommendations as to how the revenue from the GST should be carved up among Australia’s states and territories in the 2025-26 financial year (which were released on 14th March). This article focuses on the fact that, for the first time, Victoria will be receiving a larger share of the revenue from the GST than it would have done had the GST revenue been carved up on an ‘equal-per-capita’ basis. This reflects the fact that, over the past 25 years, Victoria has gradually become a ‘poor’ state, with the third-lowest per capita gross state product and the second-lowest per capita household disposable income of any state or territory – primarily as a result of its ‘bottom-of-the-class’ productivity performance over this period.

GST payments to states: Why Victoria received a bigger share this year