Summary
The Western Australian government has intensified its lobbying campaign to safeguard the state’s GST deal, enlisting major corporations, industry groups, and high-profile business figures to push back against potential reforms being reviewed by the Productivity Commission.
WA Treasurer Rita Saffioti and senior Treasury officials have held a series of private briefings in recent weeks with some of the country’s biggest companies, industry groups, and business leaders. The aim: to rally a united “Team WA” front to defend the current GST distribution formula, which guarantees the state at least 75% of its per-capita share.
The move follows confirmation from federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers that the Productivity Commission will review the GST arrangements that have delivered up to $5 billion annually in top-up payments to WA — a system other states argue unfairly favors the mining-rich region.
Saffioti’s team has urged corporate leaders and industry bodies to publicly back the existing system, lodge formal submissions to the review, and lobby federal MPs. Prominent figures such as Andrew Forrest, Michael Chaney, John Poynton, and Nigel Satterley have already joined the campaign.
WA argues that the arrangement is justified, given the $17 billion in company tax contributed by its top three iron ore producers and the infrastructure costs required to sustain future resource projects. Without the current deal, the state’s share would fall to 11.5%, severely cutting its royalties income.
CCIWA chief economist Aaron Morey said the Chamber was working closely with the state government to present “the strongest possible case.” Similarly, the Chamber of Minerals and Energy’s Anita Logiudice emphasized that resource success benefits all Australians through higher federal tax revenues supporting national programs like Medicare and the NDIS.
While Canberra has repeatedly reassured WA that its GST deal remains secure, the upcoming review has reignited interstate tensions over fiscal fairness — and set the stage for a fresh political battle over how Australia shares its wealth.