As Treasurer, Askin focused on the state budget and on Commonwealth-State financial relations. His attitude towards the Commonwealth and the Federal Government was shaped by his first premiers' conference in 1965 when Prime Minister Menzies negotiated with the Victorian Premier Henry Bolte to achieve an extra grant of funds for Victoria at the expense of the other states and closed the conference before the other Premiers could object. At subsequent premiers' conferences he opposed the 'centralising' tendencies of Canberra and became a strong advocate of the rights of the states.