The winners and losers of the GST carve up
The Productivity Commission has found that the way the GST is divided up is broken, but it has also found something more important: that it doesn't much hurt us.
Peter Martin is the economics editor for The Age, based at Parliament House
The Productivity Commission has found that the way the GST is divided up is broken, but it has also found something more important: that it doesn't much hurt us.
Australia's system of dividing Goods and Services Tax revenue between the states is broken "beyond comprehension by the public, and poorly understood by most within government", the Productivity Commission has declared in a landmark report.
States that fail to fully develop their gas and mineral reserves will come under further pressure.
Low wage growth, higher electricity and gas bills and out-of-cycle mortgage rate increases have been blamed for a slump in consumer spending in July and August - the worst since 2010.
States that fail to permit coal seam gas mining would be penalised under Grants Commission proposal to change the method of distributing goods and services tax revenue.
It's easier to find a job than it has been in years and the odds are best in NSW.
Exporters have shipped a lot of extra gas overseas in addition to the gas they were contractually obliged to export.
Reserve Bank Governor Philip Lowe has handed over the baton of economic management, declaring there's not much more low interest rates can do to boost the economy.
Two years in, we feel better about Scott Morrison than Joe Hockey, and with good reason.
Wages are about to stir, says Reserve Bank governor Philip Lowe
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