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An impending ad blitz aimed at changing hearts and minds on the east coast about the GST formula may have the opposite effect, a marketing expert has warned.
West Australian Treasurer Rita Saffioti is gearing up for a fight to protect the 75 cents in the dollar floor introduced by the former Morrison Government in 2018 which has seen billions in extra dollars flow into state coffers from the goods and services tax.
WA Treasurer Rita Saffioti and Premier Roger Cook delivering the 2025-26 budget.Credit: Hamish Hastie
On Wednesday, Treasurer Jim Chalmers announced the terms of reference for the Productivity Commission’s review of the 2018 changes, which included a no worse off guarantee for other states that is set to cost the Commonwealth $60 billion.
Saffioti revealed the WA government would run an advertising campaign over east, including in major east coast newspapers, to relay the message that the GST deal is good for the entire nation and “diminish” any pressure that’s coming from other states to go back to the old system.
Curtin University public relations expert Associate Professor Katharina Wolf said a government running a mainstream ad campaign to shift sentiment was rare and left her wondering whether it was more for the benefit of West Australians to see their government taking up the fight.
“It’s a really interesting one, and I wonder who the key audience is – is it really more for an internal audience to show the WA public that we’re doing something?” she said.
Wolf said the campaign came with great risk.
“Advertising campaigns are expensive and especially moving into some of the most expensive markets on the East Coast, you might actually reinforce that whole idea that WA has got too much money, and they are just throwing it around,” she said.
The crux of Saffioti’s argument is WA’s economic success is a shared national success that delivers billions in company tax receipts to the rest of the nation.
Saffioti said she was confident federal Labor supported the current GST deals, but there were others that would use the Productivity Commission review to try and tear it down.
“Some state governments and commentators over east have made no secret of their dislike of the arrangements, and they’ve made it clear they’ll agitate for change,” she said.
“That’s why our awareness campaign will be explaining to those other states and the broader community why the current arrangements are so important, not only for WA, but the entire nation.
“If you want a strong Australian economy, then you must support a strong WA economy – and that means ensuring WA receives its fair share of the GST.
“Western Australia can’t sit on the sidelines. That’s why our government is getting on the front foot to ensure WA keeps its fair share.
“We can’t allow the voices of other state governments, economic commentators, and political pundits to own the debate.”
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WA delivered its seventh consecutive budget surplus this year with the most recent annual report on state finances released on Friday showing the budget surplus was $1 billion better than estimated just three months ago – $3.7 billion.
On Friday Chalmers told The West Australian that his past pledges that WA’s GST deal was safe remained.
One of the GST deal’s most strident critics, economist Saul Eslake said he did not begrudge the WA government pushing for retention of the GST deal – it was the federal politicians that listened to the state that annoyed him.
“I don’t blame WA for trying to screw as much money out of Canberra as it possibly can. That’s a KPI for state governments,” Eslake said.
“I blame federal politicians on both sides for either unintentionally falling for fatuous arguments from WA or actually, and probably more likely, giving into those arguments, even though they know they’re fatuous and for the basis of political reasons.”
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