GST push to follow SA budget, treasurer says

Following the South Australian budget announcement, Treasurer Tom Koutsantonis is signaling a strong push to secure the state's long-term share of Goods and Services Tax (GST) revenue. He urged politicians across the political spectrum to intensify advocacy efforts for this crucial funding source.

However, the opposition has voiced concerns regarding the government's management of GST funds. They argue that the revenue windfall should be allocated towards mitigating the state's escalating debt rather than other expenditures. The budget papers indicate that GST grants have been revised upward by $794 million over the next three years, contributing to a "stronger national GST pool."

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I've seen a lot of advocacy from Western Australia and Western Australian MPs about the importance of GST to Western Australia. Well, it's important to South Australia too, it's important to Victoria, it's important to New South Wales. We want to see more of it.

Despite this increase, South Australia's proportional share of the total GST pool is forecast to decrease slightly to around 9.8% in the next financial year, down from 2025-26. This shift occurs as the federal government's "no worse off" guarantee, which compensates states for Western Australia's favorable GST distribution, is set to expire in 2030. Koutsantonis emphasized the importance of GST for South Australia, drawing parallels to advocacy efforts in Western Australia, and stated that the government intends to "push very hard" to secure its slice of the revenue.

The state's net debt is projected to reach $53.6 billion by 2029-30, a figure attributed by the government to its "large capital program," including major projects like the North-South Corridor and the new Women's and Children's Hospital. The opposition contends that the debt figure is understated and that the additional GST revenue should be used for budget repair. Shadow Treasurer Ben Hood noted that the opposition believes using the windfall to reduce debt would alleviate pressure on the bottom line, especially as interest payments are expected to rise significantly.

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We think that using the additional GST revenue windfall would have been an ideal way just to take some of that pressure off the bottom line and keep that debt figure as low as possible.