Government, Opposition back fairer GST distribution system Opposition Leader Mark McGowan backs The Sunday Times" Fair Go for the West GST campaign. BOTH sides of WA politics agree the unfair distribution of the goods and services tax must stop immediately. Labor leader Mark McGowan this week added his signature to the Fair Go for the West campaign. And he went further than Premier Colin Barnett's call last week for a 75 per cent floor, saying he wanted "at least 80 cents" returned for every dollar WA pays in GST. " (The current deal) is shocking for WA because it takes too much of our contribution and sends it elsewhere," Mr McGowan said. I argue we need to receive at least 80 per cent of what we contribute. Mr McGowan said it was a Liberal government who introduced the GST - so it should be a Liberal Government that fixes it. He said WA was losing hundreds of millions of dollars every year because the GST does not take into account how much other states are making from pokie machines, which are banned in the West. "WA could get $400 million extra per year right now if gambling revenues were taken into account exactly the same way as iron ore revenues are," he said. That only requires a letter from (Federal Treasurer) Joe Hockey to the Commonwealth Grants Commission. I'll write to Mr Hockey to suggest this idea. WA Treasurer Mike Nahan signs The Sunday Times' Fair Go for the West GST campaign. Abbott insider says lag in modelling easy to fix A WA member of the Abbott Government says making sure the GST is no longer based on outdated figures, one of the key planks of the Fair Go for the West campaign, is easy to fix. Senator Dean Smith said there was no reason for a three-year lag in modelling that currently has states like WA penalised for boom times long after the economy has changed. Stopping the lag could save billions of dollars. West Australians don't want to hear ideas for increasing their tax burden. They want a fairer tax deal," he said. The debate over a 75 per cent floor for GST revenues to be returned to each state is a complex discussion and negotiation. We can and should focus on those steps that can be taken now to alleviate some of the economic pain WA is experiencing. The first is to address the lag effect in assessments by the Commonwealth Grants Commission by adopting a more realistic approach to the value of iron ore prices and their effect on GST payments to WA. If the CGC was permitted to make its determination based on the current year's iron ore price, rather than a three-year average, that would at least ensure some additional GST revenue for WA. Originally published as WA Govt, Opposition both demand GST fair go