Premier Peter Gutwein has helped deliver a Budget surplus for Western Australia.
Shadow Treasurer Shane Broad said despite the Premier's attempt to wipe history, it was clear the GST redistribution deal he signed benefits WA at the expense of everyone else, including Tasmania.
"Today the Western Australian Government handed down a $5.6 billion surplus on the back of iron ore prices, payroll tax and GST," Dr Broad said.
"Thanks to Peter Gutwein and Will Hodgman, who sold Tasmania down the river in 2018 with a dud GST deal, the gap between WA and Tasmania will continue to grow to obscene levels.
"At the time, Mr Gutwein claimed Tasmania's revenue would be secure and he claimed Tasmania would get an extra $112 million in GST funds, yet we are now seeing these claims were false. It is now clear that the deal the Premier signed up for benefits WA and costs Tasmania hundreds of millions of dollars."
Dr Broad said the GST money was not the whole reason for the WA surplus, with the hard work of WA Premier Mark McGowan and his government paying off.
"I congratulate Premier Mark McGowan for WA's incredible result this year.
"WA's huge surplus is in stark contrast to Premier Gutwein, who not only sold our state down the river with a dud GST deal, but will be borrowing $2 million every day for four years on his way to racking up a record $3.5 billion of debt.
"We saw the Premier tell Estimates that he does not support this GST deal and we know that when push came to shove in 2018 he backed it in.
"The Premier needs to tell Tasmanians how he is going to get us out of this mess."
Shane Broad MP
Shadow Treasurer
