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2015/01: Should Australia extend the GST to include fresh food?
Introduction to the media issue
Video clip at right:On January 7, 2015, Channel 7 News ran a report on an increase in the number of government members who are calling for the GST to be applied to fresh food. If you cannot see this clip, it will be because video is blocked by your network. To view the clip, access from home or from a public library, or from another network which allows viewing of video clips.
What they said...
'I think there's general agreement that the broader the base [of the GST], the better, obviously. And the lower the personal tax, the better'
Federal Minister for Trade, Andrew Robb
'The Goods and Services Tax is not a fair tax because it has no regard for a person's capacity to pay... and it won't be made any fairer by putting it on food, the absolute staple of life'
Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews
The issue at a glance
In an article published in The Financial Review on January 5, 2015, the Liberal backbencher, Dan Tehan, declared his support for an extension of the GST (Goods and Services Tax).
Mr Tehan argued that the tax should be applied to fresh food, education, health and financial services.
On January 7, 2015, Queensland LNP senator Ian Macdonald and West Australian Liberal senator Dean Smith also expressed support for the GST to be applied to fresh food.
On January 9, 2014, the Minister for Trade, Andrew Robb, became the first member of the federal Cabinet publicly to support this proposal.
The Prime Minister, Tony Abbott, has promised that no attempt to change the GST will be made before the next federal election. Despite this, the suggestion has attracted significant attention from the media, the Opposition, economists, welfare groups, the agricultural sector and representatives of the different states.
Arguments for and against the proposition have been presented.