Tasmania will not receive “a cent less” after the federal government responds to a key report on how GST revenues should be distributed to the states and territories, federal Finance Minister Mathias Cormann says.
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Mr Cormann was on the North-West Coast on Tuesday to announce federal funding for the Coastal Pathways project.
His visit came at the outset of the Braddon by-election campaign, which will see Labor candidate Justine Keay – who resigned from the Federal Parliament last week due to citizenship concerns – and Liberal candidate Brett Whiteley go head-to-head.
On Tuesday, the Productivity Commission’s report on the best way forward for the GST system was handed down to Treasurer Scott Morrison.
It has been speculated that the report may recommend Tasmania receive less GST dollars in order to prop up Western Australia, which could see Tasmania lose up to $1 billion over four years.
But Mr Cormann, who admitted he had not yet laid eyes on the review, has tried to allay Tasmanians’ fears.
“The [federal] government gives this absolute guarantee to Tasmania that Tasmania will not be a cent worse off at the end of this process,” he said.
Mr Cormann said Mr Morrison’s advice was that the report would be made public some time in June.
Ms Keay said Braddon voters were entitled to know the recommendations in the Productivity Commission’s report before they went to the polls for the by-election.
“Tasmanians have a right to know what Malcolm Turnbull wishes to do with our GST carve-up before the by-election so they can make an informed decision come polling day,” she said.
Economist Saul Eslake said Tasmania’s GST case would not necessarily be any stronger under a federal Labor government.
He said while the Coalition had nothing to lose in Tasmania with no lower house representatives here, but he noted that Labor did not have much to gain given they already hold four of the five lower house seats in the state.