WA premier Colin Barnett is threatening to secede from Australia over the GST. Here’s why we reckon they should.
West Australian premier Colin Barnett, has been making some serious remarks about WA independence lately.
“The commonwealth is jealous of Western Australia," he told The Australian.
"They are jealous of our economic success, they are jealous of our success in Asia and of the fact that the Australia-China relationship is essentially China-Western Australia."
Alan Porritt / AAPIMAGE
The premier is angry about the share of $57 billion in GST revenue his state will get back, compared to how much they have to fork over.
The Commonwealth Grants Commission has recommended that WA should get less than 30 cents out of every dollar of GST it raises in the next financial year. The rate is currently at 38 cents.
Colin Barnett says this isn't fair and his resource-rich state should start cutting ties with the federation and turn to Asia for trade instead.
"If the GST is not resolved, Western Australia's future is not with the rest of Australia in a financial or economic sense." he said.
Moodboard / Getty Images
So here's 11 good reasons why WA should just shut up and secede already.
Super_harry / Getty Images
They've tried this shit before.
Even before federation, WA was whingeing about sharing profits from mining, but back then it was about gold. In 1900, a petition was sent to Queen Victoria arguing for a new colony called "Auralia" in the WA goldfields. It wasn't successful.
In 1933, the secession movement took hold over the falling price of wheat. A state referendum saw 68% of West Australians in support of leaving the Commonwealth, but the application was knocked back the British parliament.
liswa.wa.gov.au / Wikimedia Commons
