Legislative Council Fifty-Fourth Parliament, First Session (54-1) 54 1 Parliament of South Australia Legislative Council published Question Time Goods and Services Tax Goods and Services Tax The Hon. T.T. NGO Legislative Council Goods and Services Tax The Hon. T.T. NGO (15:11): My question is to the Treasurer. Does the Treasurer agree with comments made by Coalition finance minister Mathias Cormann that South Australia is $1.3 billion better off despite a revision in the GST over the forward estimates? The Hon. R.I. LUCAS Legislative Council Goods and Services Tax The Hon. R.I. LUCAS (Treasurer) (15:11): I thank the honourable member for his question. I often find myself in furious agreement with my federal finance colleague Senator Cormann. He is an excellent minister in an excellent government. I was asked to comment on similar statements made by our excellent Prime Minister Morrison in a similar vein two or three weeks ago. The statements being made by minister Cormann are correct; that is, all states have actually seen some growth in GST because there has been some growth in the national GST pie. However, the reality is that in all states, Labor and Liberal state treasurers have been singing from the same hymn sheet today. The size of the growth in the national GST pie has actually not been as big as previously estimated by the commonwealth Treasury. Yes, the size of the pie has grown—so what Senator Cormann is referring to, as I understand it, is correct—but it has not grown at the same rate as commonwealth Treasury was predicting last year or in December last year or indeed even after the Commonwealth Grants Commission update in February-March this year. As I said, the reality is that all state and territory treasurers have been singing from the same general hymn sheet today in relation to GST; that is, the expected GST returns have been significantly reduced because, sadly, the total GST pie has actually grown at a slower rate. People haven't been spending on consumption goods to the same extent as had been previously predicted; dwelling investment and expenditure has actually declined nationally, in particular to a very large degree in the Eastern States, in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, as the property market has experienced a downturn. For all those reasons what Senator Cormann is saying is substantially accurate. I haven't checked the exact number that he is talking about but certainly, yes, there has been some growth but what I and other state treasurers, Labor and Liberal, have been saying is also exactly accurate as well.