Morrison-era GST deal with WA a multi-billion dollar mistake that should be reversed, Productivity Commission finds

Experts say Western Australia is the only beneficiary of the 2018 GST bill and that if iron ore prices or production volumes rise, the cost to taxpayers in other states could rise even higher. Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images

The Productivity Commission (PC) has criticised the controversial GST deal with Western Australia as a costly mistake that should be reversed, saying tens of billions of dollars of taxpayer money has since gone to the country’s richest state.

An interim report from a PC review of the deal said the reform – requested by WA and implemented under the former Morrison government with Labor’s support – had achieved almost none of its objectives and had made the system less equitable.