2018-05-08
The Australian Greens will today give notice to introduce a bill to the Senate to repeal the tampon tax.
“After 18 years, it’s time to finally axe this unfair tax so I’m introducing a bill this week to get the job done,” said Senator Janet Rice, the Greens spokesperson for women.
“For too long, successive governments have been happy to let this sexist tax persist. People who menstruate continue to be taxed unfairly every time they go to the chemist or supermarket to buy essential sanitary items.”
“The Greens have led the way before and we’ll lead the way again with action in the parliament.”
“Last year my former Greens colleague Senator Larissa Waters introduced amendments to a GST bill that was before the Senate, as a simple way to axe the tax. These amendments failed when Labor and the Coalition voted them down.”
Responding to Labor’s announcement that they will remove the tax on sanitary products if they win the next election, Senator Rice said, “Labor talks about how they’ll remove the tax on sanitary products only if they win the next election and only if all states and territories agree.”
“Labor had a chance to remove the tax when they were last in government, but they didn’t act.”
“The fact is we don’t have to wait until the next election and we should be taking leadership at the federal level to bring the states and territories with us. The tax was introduced by the federal parliament and it can be removed by the federal parliament.”
“I urge Labor, the Coalition and the crossbench to support my bill, so that we can finally axe this unfair tax this year.”