Premier Morris Iemma has run out of excuses with respect to the State’s share of GST revenue now that Kevin Rudd is Prime Minister according to Jonathan O’Dea, the Member for Davidson.
“I am pleased to see the NSW Business Chamber (NSWBC) is appearing before the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal today as part of the NSW Government’s review of taxation,” Mr O’Dea said.
“I have a motion before State Parliament calling on the House to support the Productivity Commission undertaking an independent review of the GST agreement and removing the agreement’s economic distortions.
“I agree with the NSWBC that this State is not getting its fair share from the GST carve up and believe that Mr Iemma and Mr Rudd must be held to account and end the blame game as they have promised.
“Mr Iemma has always blamed former PM John Howard for the economic ills of NSW but that excuse has evaporated. He will now have to negotiate with other Labor Governments to seek a fairer share of the GST pie than the NSW Labor Government previously agreed to.
“NSW residents and small business are hurting by paying higher taxes to subsidise Queensland and Tasmania. Queensland is thriving and does not need that assistance as people are leaving NSW in droves to live there.
“I call on the Premier to seek an urgent meeting with Mr Rudd and to obtain an undertaking that NSW will get a fairer share of the GST revenue.
“If a fairer deal was achieved then payroll tax could be reduced or phased out completely. NSW businesses currently pay 6 percent compared to Victoria’s 5.05 percent and Queensland business only pays 4.75 percent.
“The Premier must act to help restore the economic fortunes of NSW before it is too late.”
For further information, please call Jonathan O’Dea on 0418 241 500.
