Legislative Council, Thursday 28 November 2024

Ms FORREST, question to the LEADER of the GOVERNMENT in the LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL, Mrs HISCUTT

With regard to the announcement from the Australian Government to commit $75m of funding for the Greater South East Irrigation Scheme:

1. Has the Government obtained a commitment from the Australian Government to quarantine the grant from calculation of Tasmania's share of GST by the Commonwealth Grants Commission;

2. Have any Australian Government grants for irrigation in the past 10 years been quarantined;

3. If yes which ones and what were the amount(s); and

4. If the grant is not quarantined, is it true that the Tasmanian government will end up paying back all but our per capita share of the grant via reduced future GST distributions?

ANSWER:
• In response to your first question, the answer is no, the Government has not obtained a commitment from the Australian Government to quarantine the grant from calculation of Tasmania’s share of GST by the Commonwealth Grants Commission (CGC).

• To your second question the answer is also no. No Australian Government grants for irrigation in Tasmania have been quarantined in the past 10 years.

• Therefore your third question is not applicable.

• To your fourth question, it is not possible to provide a definitive response on how the Commonwealth Grants Commission will assess funding from the Australian Government for the Greater South East Irrigation Scheme.

• The Commission’s assessment of whether a payment will impact state GST relativities depends on the purpose for which the funding was provided and whether it supports a state service.

• The impact of Commonwealth payments on Tasmania’s GST distribution also depends on the amount of funding received relative to other states and territories, including the extent to which funding is above or below the State’s equal per capita share.