Tasmania deserves its fair share of the GST.
Today, the Government has released a paper that explains how the GST is allocated, the very important principles that are applied and importantly, why it shouldn't be changed.
When the GST was first introduced, a set of rules were implemented to make sure that each state received enough money from the GST pool to ensure that all Australians, no matter where they lived, could access the same level of government services like health and education.
That system has served Australia well ever since it was implemented.
There is absolutely no reason to change that system. Some states simply want more than their fair share, which would come at the expense of smaller states like Tasmania.
The Hodgman Government will not support any change to the way GST is distributed, full stop.
We have successfully fought off previous attempts to change the GST that would have disadvantaged Tasmania, and we will do so again.
We will shortly be making a submission to the Productivity Commission's inquiry into the GST.
I encourage interested Tasmanians including members of parliament to use the Paper to inform their own submissions to the inquiry.
The paper can be found here www.treasury.tas.gov.au.
And submissions to the PC inquiry can be made here http://www.pc.gov.au/inquiries/current/horizontal-fiscal-equalisation