Australia news live: Ooshies drive sales boom as Woolworths profit soars; search continues for pilot who crashed into sea off NT

The Productivity Commission has defended its interim report on the goods and services tax, which concluded that the recent deal with Western Australia was a costly mistake that should be reversed, The Guardian reports. Commissioner Angela Jackson told Radio National that the commission remains independent of political pressure, even after Western Australian Premier Roger Cook dismissed mainland critics as “east coast clowns” and warned that any reversal could cost six billion dollars. She said the commission welcomes debate but views attacks on its integrity as going too far, and it will continue its work unaffected by the prime minister’s comments.

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