The Australian http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,2294,237329%255E2,00.html Women in uproar at GST gaffe By JOHN KERIN and IAN HENDERSON 22jan00 HEALTH Minister Michael Wooldridge compounded the Government's GST blunders last night, asserting that tampons were not health products and had no more claim to be excluded from the tax than shaving cream or toilet paper. Dr Wooldridge's comments prompted a stream of calls to talkback radio from outraged women and follow 5000 protest messages to government, Democrat and ALP Web sites. The angry reaction came as Peter Costello tried to regain control of the GST issue for the Government after a week of public stumbles by Financial Services Minister Joe Hockey and Deputy Prime Minister John Anderson. However, the Treasurer's first defence of the GST since his return to work on Thursday evening failed to silence critics and paved the way for further questioning next week. Opposition Health spokeswoman Jenny Macklin claimed Dr Wooldridge had insulted 5 million Australian women. Defending the Government's decision to impose the tax on women's hygiene products, Dr Wooldridge said that if tampons were to be excluded from the GST, then so too should shaving cream, soap and toilet paper. He rejected suggestions that women's hygiene products were health products, saying he "wasn't aware menstruation was an illness". "As a bloke, I'd like shaving cream to be exempt, but I'm not expecting it to be." Ms Macklin said Dr Wooldridge did not understand "the implications of taxing feminine sanitary products". She said that if 5 million women did without those products it would indeed compromise public health; the same could not be said of shaving cream. "Australian women are already angry about a tax on tampons, and the arrogance of Dr Wooldridge's far-fetched rationalisation will further fuel their resentment," she said. A national women's campaign is expected to culminate in a day of action planned on university campuses across the country on February 25. WEL spokeswoman Erica Lewis said women had no choice but to buy sanitary products and should not be slugged with a tax for doing so. "If there's one thing that riles women like no other it's the cost of sanitary products and authorities' apparent inability to get the picture," she said. Tampons cost from 19c to 24c each.The average annual cost for women would be $48 to $52, including GST. Asked how the public could be expected to understand the GST when ministers could not explain it, Mr Costello failed to support his junior colleague, Mr Hockey, and conceded there were bound to be "teething problems". But the Treasurer failed to clear up the rounding-up issue that trapped both Mr Hockey and Mr Anderson. All he would say was that prices would not rise beyond the GST's 10 per cent rate. ************************************************************************* This posting is provided to the individual members of this group without permission from the copyright owner for purposes of criticism, comment, scholarship and research under the "fair use" provisions of the Federal copyright laws and it may not be distributed further without permission of the copyright owner, except for "fair use." -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.alexia.net.au/~www/mhutton/index.html Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
