Western Australia's long-held determination to maintain its share of GST is set to continue, with incoming premier Roger Cook doubling down on the issue.
Mr Cook was confirmed as premier by the WA parliamentary Labor party, alongside deputy Rita Saffioti, a week after the shock departure of Mark McGowan.
Ahead of his cabinet's swearing-in on Thursday, he said he would make portfolio announcements on Wednesday, as speculation swirled about who would take on the role of treasurer, which was also held by Mr McGowan.
The outgoing premier addressed the caucus meeting.
"We were obviously all shocked by the departure of premier Mark McGowan," Mr Cook told reporters on Tuesday.
"It's now time to get back to hard work."
Mr Cook was quick to retaliate against comments from South Australian Treasurer Stephen Mullighan who described WA's GST share as a "looming crisis for the federation."
"We have got every state and territory losing GST revenue and redirecting them exclusively to Western Australia," Mr Mullighan told reporters in Adelaide.
"Unbelievably that's happening at the same time Western Australia is experiencing one of the largest commodity booms and royalty revenue booms it's had in its history.
"It shows how unsustainable the current GST distribution framework is."
Mr Cook said he disagreed with the comments and invited Mr Mullighan to speak with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Treasurer Jim Chalmers, who had both confirmed the GST deal would remain in place.
"I expect him to stick by their words," Mr Cook said.
"I don't want to comment about what the other states will do, they need to obviously make sure they get their finances in order.
"It's not time for them to look for excuses as to why they are running deficits and debt budgets.
"They simply need to get on with the job of managing their state's finances properly."
One of Mr Cook's first briefings would be about the troubled juvenile detention centre Banksia Hill, which is a priority for the government and will require restoration of infrastructure after a detainees caused millions of dollars of damage in recent riots.
"I'm keen to understand the problems, the challenges and the opportunities that exist in that facility make sure we can provide the level of guidance and support it needs," he said.
Ahead of announcing his resignation, Mr McGowan said he thought some youths were using foetal alcohol syndrome disorder as an excuse for bad behaviour at the facility.
Mr Cook said he didn't think that's what the outgoing premier meant.
"We have 87 kids in Banksia Hill, of the 1200 young people who are under custodial orders under the department of justice," he said.
"Of those 87 kids there's 87 different stories of the reason why they find themselves in this circumstance and we will know need to provide them with the support, the discipline they need to get their lives back on the straight and narrow."
