Australian women will be slugged for the first time in 50 years when the Howard Government’s GST is applied to tampons and sanitary pads from 1 July.
In Parliament today, Senator Lundy tabled a second petition with 12,858 signatures calling on the Government to make tampons and sanitary pads GST-free. On 15 February 2000, the Opposition tabled a similar petition with 10,355 signatures, bringing the total to 23,213.
The Shadow Minister for Health and the Status of Women, Jenny Macklin, said today’s petition represented continued community resentment over the GST.
“The Government has refused to listen, and from this Saturday five million Australian women will pay more for their already expensive tampons, Ms Macklin said
“These products are health products. The Health Minister, Dr Wooldridge, does have the power to determine these products GST-free under Section 38-47 of the GST legislation in the same way he exempted condoms, sunscreens, folate pills and personal lubricants.
“The ACCC has not included tampons and sanitary pads in their GST Expected Price Variations Guide, so the five million Australian women who purchase these products are unable to monitor prices to ensure they are not being ripped off, Ms Macklin said.
Senator Lundy, Shadow Minister for Youth Affairs, Sport and I.T, said the petition tabled today builds on the largest electronic petition ever tabled in the Federal Parliament.
“It highlights the strength of community outrage against the Howard Government’s plan to tax tampons and sanitary pads for the first time,” Senator Lundy said.
“Women are actively using the Internet to voice their opinion. Of the 12,858 signatories to this petition, over 7,500 accessed the petition on the World Wide Web (www.katelundy.com.au). The petition was the inspiration of Katrina Allen, of de jour, who was outraged at the unfairness of this tax on women’s health products, Senator Lundy said.
Contact: Simon Tatz (Kate Lundy’s Office) 02-6277 3334
