‘I don’t think it’s working’: Allegra Spender on GST system ‘not getting outcomes’

Independent MP Allegra Spender doesn’t believe the GST system, in its current form, is “working” because the states with greater need and less capacity to pay are “not getting the outcomes”. There are growing calls for the GST deal for Western Australia to be axed, as the federal budget faces huge cost blowouts. “I don’t think that the way GST currently works is actually that effective, I think there’s two big problems with it,” Ms Spender told Sky News Australia. “Firstly … If the purpose is to make sure that you get the money to the states who can’t otherwise pay for them, why is WA getting all this extra money given that how much it has the capacity to pay with such a high iron ore price. “The second big problem really with this is that … we send money to those states who we say have greater need and less capacity to pay, but the problem is we’re not getting the outcomes either. “I don’t think it’s working in either way, to be honest.”