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WA Liberal Party backs controversial WAxit motion

Western Australia has long complained about its share of the GST.

Western Australia has long complained about its share of the GST. Photo: AAP

The Western Australian Liberal Party has said it wants to investigate splitting from the federation in a warning shot to Canberra over the distribution of the GST.

Liberals voted in favour of a motion that called for the establishment of a committee to “examine the option of WA becoming financially independent within the Commonwealth” – a motion dubbed WAxit – at the party’s state conference on Sunday.

The motion was amended from an earlier version that proposed becoming an “independent state”.

The vote passed 89-73 despite opposition from the Liberal leader Mike Nahan, who took over the leadership following former premier Colin Barnett’s election loss in March.

Mr Nahan did say the vote was an “understandable expression of frustration”.

“Rivers of cash are pulled from under us and we’re left in debt and deficit. It’s not right,” he said.

“We need to work within the family. Fix our federation, don’t bust it.”

The motion was backed by party president Norman Moore, who said it would send a strong message to Canberra.

WA Liberal leader Mike Nahan opposed the motion. Photo: AAP

“It tells them that Western Australians, particularly Liberal party Western Australians, are not happy with the way in which WA is being treated,” he said.

“The GST is symptomatic of that but it is more than that.

“Because we’re a long way from Canberra, we feel that we’re being ignored and our interests aren’t being taken into consideration by both sides of politics.”

Both sides of Western Australian politics have long criticised the way the GST is distributed between the states.

The resource-rich state receives only 34 cents in the dollar from GST, which it says means it is subsidising other governments.

With the mining boom coming to an end, the state now faces a projected $41 billion debt by the end of the decade, according to the WA treasury.

The state’s Labor premier, Mark McGowan, has argued the tax should be determined on a per-capita basis, which would boost the state’s share by $10 billion.

The Turnbull government has faced pressure to address the state’s concerns and the Productivity Commission is currently undertaking a review of the tax.

On Sunday, WA federal Liberal senator Mathias Cormann played down the importance of the motion, which is non-binding.

“The motion which was adopted was very different to the one that was originally proposed,” the Finance Minister said.

“To explore ways to become more financially independent from the Commonwealth is something that I would encourage all states to do.”

It is not the first time Western Australia has considered secession from the rest of Australia.

In 1933, Western Australians voted in a favour of a referendum asking whether they wanted to withdraw from the Commonwealth of Australia.

A petition was then sent to the British parliament requesting that it amend the Australian constitution, but a UK parliamentary joint committee ruled it was invalid because it did not have the support of the Australian federal government.

On Sunday, federal deputy Labor leader Tanya Plibsersek said the vote showed WA Liberals were frustrated by the Turnbull government.

“It’s pretty terrible isn’t it that the West Australian branch of the Liberal Party have so little faith in Malcolm Turnbull and his government that they want to leave the federation that they’re part of?” she said.

-with AAP

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