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Category: Government and Politics / States and Territories / Federal - State Issues / Elections / Mining Industry

Brendon Grylls says major parties' WA budget strategies will fail

Tuesday, 28 Feb 2017 13:19:06 | Andrew O'Connor

Brendon Grylls has criticised the budget strategies proposed by the major political parties. (ABC News: Andrew O'Connor)

WA Nationals leader Brendon Grylls has declared only his party has a viable plan to repair the deficit and debt plaguing the state's finances, labelling the major political parties' budget strategies flawed and doomed to fail.

The WA Nationals want to impose a $5-a-tonne mining tax on iron ore miners Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton, but have faced a multi-million dollar campaign from the mining lobby opposing the plan.

Mr Grylls told a business breakfast in Perth the Nationals remained "brave enough" to make their case to the voters, while the Liberals and Labor offered no real solution to the budget crisis.

Mr Grylls said the Liberals' plan to sell Western Power could be blocked by One Nation, Labor's plan of slowly paying down debt would be crippled by revenue shortfalls, and there was still no sign of Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's promised GST floor.

"The three most significant figures in West Australian politics — [Labor leader Mark] McGowan, [Premier Colin] Barnett and Turnbull — have no plan to change the budget situation in Western Australia.

"The West Australian Nationals do," he said.

Mr Grylls said his party's tax proposal had been subjected to unprecedented scrutiny and criticism ahead of the March 11 state election, while the budget repair strategies offered by Liberal and Labor were fundamentally flawed and doomed to fail, yet had so far escaped close examination.

"I would say that we've been asked to bend over and cough … on this policy. It's an important one. It's a big one. Maybe we should have been. But surely if the West Australian Nationals are going to be put to that scrutiny, that everyone would be put to that scrutiny."

Mr Grylls said Mr Turnbull's promise to help solve the state's low GST share had amounted to nothing.

"To come to Western Australia in August, promise a floor in the GST, to come back in February and crab-walk away from that promise … the 2019 federal election will be Armageddon for the federal Liberal Party," he said.

He reiterated his call for state and federal Liberals to back the Nationals' plan to raise $7.2 billion through a mining tax, and to quarantine that revenue stream from the normal GST calculations, ensuring it did not further reduce WA's share of GST.

WA MPs not delivering GST reform: Davies

Mia Davies Photo: Mia Davies says WA MPs in Canberra have not delivered GST reform.

(ABC News: Andrew O'Connor)

Nationals Deputy Leader Mia Davies told those at the breakfast the biggest political obstacle to quarantining the mining tax revenue for WA was the political "bloody-mindedness and ideology" of the Liberal Party at a state and federal level.

She said strong West Australian representation in the federal Cabinet had delivered little more than talk on GST reform.

"We've never had more representation from Western Australia sitting around the top table in Canberra," she said.

"They take their pay check, they fly over there, and they sit there and think about everything save the state that they come from," she said.

"You should be bloody angry about it. You should be angry about it. We are being smashed."

Ms Davies said the Nationals' plan to quarantine the extra revenue from the GST distribution process, was not an "unfair ask".

"We are still trying to do the right thing by the state," she said.

"Apply that critical thought to what has become a really hackneyed and horrible environment to operate in."

"You should have greater expectations of the people who seek to be your representatives.

"It is actually gutting when you have some of the conversations we have on a daily basis."

Despite the mining lobby's extensive campaign against the tax, which cost more than $2 million, Mr Grylls said he remained confident of holding his seat of Pilbara, and believed the Nationals' primary vote would increase.

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