Question Time

Goods and Services Tax

Mr MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Leader of the Opposition) (14:15): My question is to the Premier. Can the Premier guarantee that South Australia will not be one dollar worse off as a result of the new GST distribution regime in comparison with what would otherwise be the case under the current GST distribution regime?

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL (Dunstan—Premier) (14:15): I thank the Leader of the Opposition for his question. This is certainly a very important question and issue for the people of South Australia. As members would know, the Australian Productivity Commission brought down their report last year that essentially takes a lot of money away from South Australia and redistributes it to other jurisdictions around the country, most notably New South Wales and Western Australia. We have been negotiating virtually since day one of coming to government because we know that this is such a significant issue for the people of our state.

Our position has always been extraordinarily clear, and that is that we would not accept any deal that disadvantaged the people of South Australia. I have to say that it has been a very long and complex negotiation to date and there is still plenty of negotiation to occur, but the federal government has now arrived at a point where they have rejected the Australian Productivity Commission recommendation. Most importantly, the Prime Minister yesterday and again today reiterated that no state will be worse off.

The federal Treasury has provided us with detailed forecasts of what their new model would look like. They have provided us with some assurance of an additional payment to the people of South Australia over the next eight years, but the detail of this is yet to be formalised. My understanding is that there will be negotiation for the coming months and a new agreement will be incorporated into an intergovernmental agreement, which will be signed before the end of the year.

I give this commitment to the house: we will not be signing any agreement that disadvantages the people of South Australia. As a state, we're just getting back on our feet. The last thing we can afford to do is be without the GST money that has been promised. It has been put into the forward estimates in South Australia and beyond that. We do not want to do anything that is going to disadvantage the recovery of our state. We have made that position extraordinarily clear for a long period of time, and we will maintain that position.

I would like to acknowledge in the house the work that the Hon. Rob Lucas has done. He has conducted a lengthy and complex negotiation not only directly with the federal Treasurer but also with other jurisdictions around the country. This is a very important negotiation that is currently underway but, as I said, I am very grateful to the Prime Minister for his commitment yesterday and again today that no state would be any worse off. The Prime Minister is a great friend of South Australia. He was here last Friday announcing a $35 billion frigate contract to be built in South Australia.

Yesterday, he was here in South Australia. In fact, he was on Kangaroo Island, where he officially opened the new airport facility to which the federal government have committed more than $10 million. Today, he has come out as a friend of South Australia and made it very clear that South Australia will not be any worse off under the proposals that are currently under consideration but will not be finalised, as I said, until the intergovernmental agreement is signed later this year.