This dodgy $60b deal reeks. Now it’s being buried in pure bulldust

August 27, 2026 — 5:00am

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One of my best friends once declared to our office that he “knew cattle country”.

This chap wouldn’t know one end of a Murray grey from the other, but he continues to have a good nose for bulldust. Particularly political bulldust.

Over the past fortnight, the country has been smothered in the stuff as our political masters defend how the $103 billion pool of GST is carved up between the states and territories.

The stench has become nauseating since the Productivity Commission released its interim report into the 2018 deal put in place by then treasurer Scott Morrison to placate angry West Australians about how little GST they were receiving.

His plan ensured WA got a minimum portion of the GST pool, before switching to the current system under which NSW or Victoria sets the floor below which the share of no other state or territory can fall.

A $60b GST fiasco: State vs state argument erupts between WA and ‘east coast whingers’

Originally budgeted at $2.3 billion, it is barrelling towards $60 billion over 11 years, paid for by all taxpayers. In terms of cost blowout, it dwarfs the NDIS.

The commission’s scathing report labelled the deal a mistake which had effectively upended the nation’s century-long arrangement to ensure every state or territory gets enough cash to deliver reasonably similar services to their residents.

So costly is the scheme, the federal government could give every taxpayer a $450-a-year cut and have some loose change left over.

Outside the........

© The Sydney Morning Herald