How many pollies does it take to open a Perth freeway extension?

If you saw the amount of pollies that flocked to the opening of a freeway extension north of Perth on Thursday you could be excused for thinking it was some magical road leading to the mythical kingdom of Shangri-la.

But instead of some pavement paved in gold that spirals around perilous cliffs, with spine-tingling turns that take in million dollar views of lakes filled with trout, the thunderdome is nothing more than a five kilometre stretch of tarmac down the Mitchell Freeway.

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Granted, the arousing artery will ease the dull grind for everyday commuters wanting to escape the northern suburbs, but did we really need nine state MPs and four federal MPs on taxpayers' time cutting a bloody ribbon?

There were less pollies at the signing of Australia's federation for Christ's sake.

Oh, and there was no vehicular mayhem after the thoroughfare was "opened" because the public can't even drive on it until Friday.

But there we had Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull with his kiddie scissors, smiling like he just spent six years forging the passage by himself with a dessert spoon and a bag of dynamite.

And he is flanked by the Premier Mark McGowan (who looks like he was on the verge of a hissy fit because he couldn't cut the ribbon first) Federal Minister's Christian Porter and Paul Fletcher, state MP's Rita Saffioti and John Quigley, a whole host of other pollies... and a shiny gold ribbon.

I mean it's hard enough getting the PM to come to Perth anyway, but when he finally does decide to pop in and say G'day to us GST-starved Sandgropers, the biggest god damn media event is him standing with a cast of hundreds cutting a $2 ribbon on a road that will go relatively unnoticed by the motoring masses.

The premier has been pleading with Mr Turnbull to spare five minutes on his weeklong sojourn to WA to discuss the fact the state is getting shafted when it comes to their share of the GST pie.

But the pair spent most of the week exchanging churlish comments like a couple of blokes with shady pasts vying for the final rose and the heart of the Bachelorette.

You might remember, WA has been left licking the plate after the state only got a pitiful 34 cents in the dollar after the Commonwealth Grants Commission released its annual distribution figures.

Due to the meagre rise in our slice of the GST, WA will lose more than $730 million in revenue in the next four years.

And if the PM needed reminding GST wasn't something you regretted after eating Chinese food, WA treasurer Ben Wyatt wrote to his federal bean counter buddy this week Scott Morrison to say changes in population estimates from the latest census could mean the state could lose almost $2 billion in GST revenue over the next four years.

Basically the WA economy, which had propped up the national coffers for years, is disappearing down the dunny and yet the PM could only give up 90 minutes of his precious time to discuss our GST woes.

"It was a direct, open and constructive conversation with the Prime Minister," McGowan told journalists after his meeting with the PM.

"There's no resolution to the GST issue, our treasury offices will continue to talk to one another."

No resolution for the GST, but bugger me that was a pretty ribbon.

And given the steely stares on the faces of the dozen or so MPs standing on the tarmac in that depressing, misty rain, the ribbon cutting boot camp for the pollies prior to the road opening was well worth our taxpayers' dollars.

WA can be thankful the former Barnett's failed Perth Freight Link highway was canned, because there wouldn't have been enough space on the road for all the pollies around Australia to attend.