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Angela Jackson, the commissioner of the Productivity Commission, said the body stands by the interim report into the GST, which found the deal with Western Australia to be a costly mistake that should be reversed.

Jackson spoke to RN this morning after WA premier Roger Cook said “east coast clowns” didn’t understand the state and any changes would “rip $6bn out of the Western Australia economy”.

We are aiming, of course, to inform public policy debate, which can often get heated. Our view is that a line was crossed in terms of the nature of those comments from the Western Australian premier last month.

We welcome debate and we welcome criticism of our work and our report more broadly because it makes our work stronger. But to undermine and I guess attack our integrity, I think is an additional bridge too far. And I think something that more broadly we are seeing in public debate internationally.

It’s important for us to indicate that that process will not be influenced by the prime minister’s comments, that we are above politics, and that’s a very important position that we hold within the public policy landscape in Australia.