Northern Territory chief minister Adam Giles says he sympathises with Western Australia's concerns about the GST.
As Friday's COAG meeting nears, Mr Giles says he understands why WA Premier Colin Barnett feels penalised.
"I feel quite sympathetic to WA. WA have been a powerhouse of the Australian economy providing much-needed GST revenue to the Commonwealth and back to other states," he told reporters late on Tuesday.
News that WA will be getting as little as 30 cents in the dollar for their GST share "does say to WA that 'you have been providing the strength ... of the Australian economy and you're giving that up'," Mr Giles said.
But he did not expect Treasurer Joe Hockey to make any changes to a 30-year-old system based on one year's fiscal outlook.
He accused Labor-led jurisdictions of not pulling their weight.
"It's quite ironical when you see jurisdictions like WA fighting to create more jobs and build their economy and make sure Western Australians live quite well, when there are other jurisdictions in Australia that are not prepared to take up the fight to build their economy to create jobs and be active GST contributors," Mr Giles said.
"I do note that all four Labor jurisdictions in the nation are looking to be substantial receivers of additional revenues and jurisdictions such as WA and the NT, to a very small degree, seem to be going backward somewhat in the relativities."
He said that although he supported Mr Barnett in standing up for Western Australians, he would fight for the NT and did not expect there to be a change in GST distribution.
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