Letter about State's problem with C'wlth funding sent to Federal MPs

14/4/97

Finance Minister Max Evans has taken the State's problems with Commonwealth/State financial arrangements to all Western Australian Coalition Federal MPs.

In a four-page letter similar to the one he wrote to all Coalition Members of State Parliament last week, Mr Evans has demonstrated to Federal MPs how the actions of the Federal Government and the Grants Commission have affected Western Australia.

"Federal Members need to know precisely what Canberra is doing to this State and they cannot rely on the Canberra bureaucracy to make the information available in concise form," Mr Evans said.

"There is nothing more urgent in the Australian Federation today than the need for reform of the financial arrangements between the Commonwealth and the States, but it will not happen unless Federal Members of Parliament begin to take it seriously."

Mr Evans pointed out to MPs that if the tax sharing arrangements today were the same as they were 10 years ago, Western Australia would be receiving an additional $700 million in 1997-98.

In addition to this loss, the Grants Commission had deprived WA of a further $208 million in 1997-98, the cumulative effect of reductions of $54 million, $53 million, $67 million and $34 million over the last four years.

The accumulated losses to WA over that four-year period were $543 million or $305 per person.

The only other States to suffer losses through the Grants Commission in that period were Queensland, down $183 per person and South Australia, down $76 per person.

"The people living in WA, and the people who represent them in Canberra, need to understand that the tremendous economic progress being made by this State is enriching Canberra while Canberra is impoverishing the State," Mr Evans said.

"The most perverse part of this process is that while all States, and particularly WA, are being impoverished, the Commonwealth's spending on its own purposes has grown substantially.

"Unfortunately, the term 'own purposes' is a constitutional misnomer because most of the increase in Commonwealth spending has been due to useless duplication of State functions.

"Every time you hear the expressions 'national standards' or 'national policy' you can be certain that the Canberra bureaucracy is reaching out to duplicate another State function even though they have neither the experience nor the staff to match the States' performance.

"The duplication adds to the Commonwealth's budget problems and then becomes the excuse for still more cuts to State revenue.

"Federal and State MPs must take these issues seriously and begin to lead informed public debate towards fundamental reform of the taxing and spending powers and responsibilities of the Commonwealth and the States.

Media contact: Hugh Ryan 481 3244