PM faces further GST backlash after standing by lucrative WA deal

Anthony Albanese is facing further pressure from Labor and Liberal states to overhaul the GST carve-up after declaring he was sticking by Western Australia's lucrative funding deal.The prime minister promised on Monday not to change the 2018 arrangements that boosted the resource-rich state's share of the GST.This was despite a Productivity Commission report recommending the government scrap the deal, warning it had cost billions more than anticipated and was worsening inequality between states.Mr Albanese is set to meet with state leaders at national cabinet on Wednesday, putting him on a collision course with premiers demanding a GST shake-up.Victoria's Labor treasurer, Colin Brooks, said the Productivity Commission's interim findings had "backed up exactly what Victoria has been saying for years"."The current system isn't working Western Australia has been told it can keep its lucrative and disproportionate deal."On a visit to Western Australia on Monday, Mr Albanese said the state deserved its funding allocation and promised no changes while he was prime minister.It was the first time he had made the guarantee since the Productivity Commission handed down its interim report earlier this month."The important thing that sometimes isn't understood from some of the critique of WA getting its fair share of the GST is that those additional payments have not come from states and territories," Mr Albanese said."They have come from the Commonwealth