Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's latest announcement on changing the GST sharing formula is aimed at boosting the West Australian Government's prospects in the next state election, Queensland Treasurer Curtis Pitt says.

Mr Turnbull yesterday committed his Government to boosting WA's share of GST revenue and establishing a floor in the distribution of the funds.

The Prime Minister used his keynote address at the WA Liberal Party state conference to acknowledge the unfairness of WA's GST return dropping to 30 cents of every dollar raised by the tax in that state.

The exact amount the floor will be is still up for debate, with WA Premier Colin Barnett seeking 75 cents in the dollar.

WA goes to the polls next March, when Mr Barnett's conservative government will seek re-election.

Mr Pitt said this was the first anyone had heard of the proposal to change GST distribution.

"Any change to the GST and its distribution has the potential to affect state revenue," he said.

"Queensland gets nearly half of its revenue from the Commonwealth Government.

"Queensland is not going to stand for it. If we are going to have ideas floated through the media, we are not going to get anywhere with this Coalition Government.

"This latest idea of a floor in GST payments to the states and territories has all the hallmarks of a political lifeline for the West Australian Government that is going to be going to the polls next year."

Tasmanian Government frontbencher Michael Ferguson also criticised the change.

"Tasmania won't agree to any changes that are not in our state's interests," he said.

The ABC is seeking a response from the Prime Minister's office.

Minimum distribution will provide stable income: Barnett

Mr Barnett said the plan was merely an attempt to fix the imbalance his state has experienced since the tax was brought in.

"The GST was introduced as a revenue source from the states," he said.

"In return the states gave up their rights to share in income and company tax.

"Part of the argument was tax reform in Australia, and the other part was to give state governments a stable source of revenue.

"For Western Australia, it has been anything but stable, it has been highly unstable, and the commitment by the Prime Minister provides for us stability of income, because most state government spending goes on education and health, which is driven by population."

He argued the plan was likely to go ahead, and should not be to the detriment of any other state.

"The sharing, distribution of the GST is a matter for the federal Treasury and Treasurer, and I understand the Prime Minister discussed with this [Treasurer] Scott Morrison to this effect," Mr Barnett said.

"The arrangement is that as Western Australia's share of GST rises, which it will do regardless over the next couple of years, we will get passed that threshold level, and the floor will be imposed.

"When the floor comes in to play, it will not have a negative effect on any other state, it will be neutral, but the floor will be there to ensure that in the future Western Australia cannot go below it, and indeed neither can any other state."

'Tax policy on the run'

Mr Pitt described the plan as an ominous sign for Queensland and expressed concern other states had not been consulted.

"Prime Minister Turnbull needs to stop making tax policy on the run, especially if changes have the potential to hit Queensland's revenue base," Mr Pitt said.

"What we have now once again we have the Prime Minister floating a major tax change which really is a thought bubble with no real detail or consultation."

Federal Finance Minister and WA Senator Mathias Cormann said the Commonwealth had been forced to make additional funding commitments to the west over the past few years to address the funding gap created by the mining boom wearing off.

Under the current GST system, a state's share of revenue is calculated by taking into account the income it receives from other sources over a three-year period.

That is where the concerns lie for WA, which experienced a spike in mining royalties during the boom, followed by a period of plummeting commodity prices.

The three-year averaging of that income has led to a lag in changes to its GST allocation.