Just a few short words was all it took for the east to turn against the west in the battle for GST.

WA Premier Colin Barnett, who has raged against his state's GST allocation given the downturn in the iron ore price has devastated the west's economy, continued his war of words while speaking to Fairfax Radio Perth 6PR, linking WA's assistance during times of natural disaster to the east's reluctance to support it in its bid for more GST revenue.

Western Australian Premier Colin Barnett. Credit:Philip Gostelow

…"When Victoria had those tragic fires a few years back, Western Australia was the first state and the most generous state to provide financial assistance, so perhaps the new treasurer's got a short memory or perhaps he's not aware of that," Mr Barnett told 6PR.

"Same when Queensland was in trouble. Western Australia was the first state to provide assistance in the Queensland floods.