Hodgman must stand up to Abbott on GST Tue 1 May 2012 Lara Giddings Premier The Premier, Lara Giddings, today condemned Will Hodgman for either failing to stand up to Tony Abbott, or failing to convince him of the importance of the GST to Tasmania. Ms Giddings said Mr Abbott had backed the greedy and self interested GST grab of mainland Liberal states. "While a chorus of Liberal Premiers from Colin Barnett to Ted Baillieu have argued for a greater share of the GST, Will Hodgman has sat silent," Ms Giddings said. "He has been too afraid to stand up for Tasmania's interests. "It is now clear that an Abbott led Liberal Government would gut Tasmania's share of the GST. "Mr Abbott's comments should send shivers down the spines of every Tasmanian. "If per capita distribution was adopted, against the recommendations of the recent interim GST review, it would cost Tasmania around $700 million a year. "If that happened, Will Hodgman would be an accomplice to an act of economic sabotage that would deny Tasmania hundreds of millions of dollars to fund vital core services. "Mr Hodgman must condemn Tony Abbott's comments and lobby him to reverse his stance. "A failure to do so would expose him as a puppet of the national Liberal Party and call into question his ability to represent Tasmania's interests. "Last year Mr Hodgman refused my invitation to join a tripartite delegation to Canberra to fight for Tasmania's share of the GST. He has also repeatedly failed to tell Tony Abbott to keep his hands off the NBN. Just where do Mr Hodgman's loyalties lie?" Ms Giddings said the State Government would continue to stand up for fairness in the GST debate. "This is fundamentally about fairness. While Western Australia's revenues skyrocket, all we are asking is for a small share of the resources boom to be shared by the rest of the nation."
