Will Labor or the Coalition have the guts to reverse ‘the worst public policy decision’ of the century? Don’t be daft

Anthony Albanese and WA’s premier, Roger Cook, in 2025. The PM has reassured WA they will get their ‘fair share’, while Cook savaged the Productivity Commission report. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP

Anyone who knows Saul Eslake will tell you the respected economist is anything but a hothead.

Likely to have forgotten more about the Australian economy and the state of the budget than most observers know in the first place, Eslake perfectly sums up the former Coalition government’s 2018 GST deal with Western Australia.