WA lost almost every cent it raised in iron ore royalties over the past decade

WA lost almost every cent it raised in iron ore royalties over the past decade as the Commonwealth Grants Commission redistributed the benefits of the mining boom to the rest of the nation.

A breakdown of the commission’s rulings since 2006 and the State’s mining royalties reveals $39 billion that swelled WA coffers was lost in the annual GST carve-up.

Victoria has been the biggest winner from the WA mining boom, prompting calls from the mining sector to change the grants commission process.

Every year the commission looks at the revenue and costs facing each State and Territory, redistributing GST based on the relative strengths or weaknesses of each.

In its most recent allocation, under which WA will get 34.4¢ of every dollar raised in GST in the State, almost $5.8 billion worth of “mining production” was moved between the States and Territories. WA accounted for $5.3 billion of the total that was moved to other areas.

Since the middle of last decade, WA has lost almost $39 billion under the GST carve-up because of its relative strength in mining.

 

Source: WA loses $39 billion in GST carve-up | Perth Now