Turnbull yet to confirm McGowan meeting

The West Australian premier is still waiting for confirmation that he will meet with the prime minister while he is in the state.

Western Australian Premier Mark McGowan

The WA premier is still waiting for confirmation that he will meet with the prime minister. (AAP)

The West Australian premier says he still hasn't heard from the prime minister an whether they will meet this week to discuss the state's GST carve-up problems.

Malcolm Turnbull publicly flagged plans to meet Mark McGowan, but the premier said on Tuesday he was yet to be told when and where it would happen.

Mr McGowan said he was even willing to fly to regional areas like Broome or Albany to meet with the prime minister, who is in WA with his cabinet this week.

Asked if it would be a slap in the face to be ignored by the prime minister, Mr McGowan replied: "I'm not going to criticise him until I hear from him ... If that happens, yes, but I expect we'll have a meeting."

According to the latest ABS census figures, 60,000 fewer people are living in the state, which the WA Treasury estimates will lead to a $1.9 billion drop in GST share.

Mr McGowan is seeking written assurance from the prime minister that the writedown will not need to be included in the WA budget, which will be handed down next month.

"If the federal government is not going to help us here, I want the prime minister to tell me to my face," Mr McGowan said.

The premier said it did not necessarily have to be a top-up payment, but could be a direction to the Commonwealth Grants Commission to ignore the latest "disastrous" census results in favour of the earlier census.


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Source: AAP



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