go back over the whole history since federation and you will find that for most of the time Vic and NSW have subsidised the smaller states through the pre GST COAG-type arrangements. Even the GST is not handed out per capita. If all states had received their per capita share then the smaller states would have gone broke many years ago. So it was OK to take then but not OK to reciprocate now?
I own a house but technically I do not own the land it is on - the crown holds the title and can take it back any time it wants to.
