Social policy consultant, Terry Barnes ( and ABC News) advise that the removal of the GST on female hygiene products will cost the federal budget $30 million a year. Terry, advises that the GST cost on the products is a measly $24 per year: not much individually, but the government is going to have to restore $30 million to the budget, somehow.

Terry Barnes believes that the capitulation to pressure to remove the tax is “gesture politics at its most pointless”. It won't gain a single vote, and it simply adds another “costly to administer exemption” to an already sieve-like GST revenue pool.

Minister Freydenberg is ingratiating himself to a feminist lobby when his government will not get a single vote from it. And, who is going to make up the 30 million bucks? A further cut to the ABC, perhaps.

Barnes thinks that the government, instead of 'cherry picking’ exemptions to mollify “noisy special interests”, should be sticking to the principle that a GST is more efficient and fair the broader its base is; and, if the Liberals think that a saving of $24 a year will help them at the next election they are dreaming.

Last night on the news I saw a woman say that this removes the "sexist" tax on these products.

Well call me an ignorant idiot but I fail to see how this is sexual discrimination to tax these products. It would be discrimination if is was the case that if men bought them they didn't pay the tax while when women bought them they did. However, the way the tax worked is that the exact same amount of tax has always been paid regardless who buys these product.

Now, feminists argue that these products are almost exclusively bought by women so it is unfairly taxing women more. However items like power-tools and tickets to boxing matches are predominately bought by men and not women, so by applying the same line of reasoning used by feminists men shouldn't have to pay GST on them because it is a "sexist" tax in this case.

Terry Barnes also thinks removal of the tax discriminates against men.

As a by the by, Tony Abbott used to be advised by Terry Barnes, but I note that yesterday Abbott said that the removal of the tax was a “step in the right direction”, which goes to show that all politicians are opportunistic bastards. Abbott hasn't been for the removal previously.

I would bet that, in the case of married women, the cost would be borne by the family budget, not wifey personally.

Feminine hygiene products are vital for a woman's
health. They're a necessity. Those who question
the removal of a tax on these essential items - might
want to ask - why aren't condoms and viagra taxed
for men? Why the double standard?

Why should women have been taxed all these years - and not men?

Vote buying 101 by a desperate PM who will lose unless he pulls a rabbit out of his hat. There will be plenty more like this.

You mean their is such a thing as gender!

My god, about bloody time.

Yes, Thinkabit, if any man needs tampons, they should also be free of GST.

However, such products are not bought 'predominantly' by women, but ONLY by women, for exclusive use BY women, except perhaps in your case (my commiserations).

Power tools ? Football tickets ? Used only by men ? So what century are you in again ?

Joe

Watchit...the fox is sniffing around the chook yard gate....

Loudmouth: You say "However, such products are not bought 'predominantly' by women, but ONLY by women, for exclusive use BY women, except perhaps in your case (my commiserations)."

Well, if it makes you happy to know, I actually did pay for some tampons just a couple of weeks ago. The reason why is because I'm a REAL man, who believes that a man should provide for his family and hence I pay ALL of my household's bill and expenses. (My wife and I are retired and we both live of my investment's income.)

Another example of men buying these products is single men who are raising female daughters.

Also it is very common these days for male/female households to spilt their grocery and household expenses 50/50 when both are working, so in these cases men are contributing to the purchase of these items as well.

So while these products may be exclusively used by females it is not at all uncommon for men to buy these products. (Even though people like you and many feminists think that women exclusively pay for them). In fact it would not surprise me at all to find that if you crunched the numbers throughly more men pay (or contribute to paying) for tampons then women do.

And I can guarantee you from experience, when we do pay for them we have NEVER been any discount because we are men. We pay exactly the same GST as any women does. It is simply a complete fabrication that the tax on these products are an instance of sexual discrimination.

Regarding you comment of power-tools and boxing tickets- well I live in the 21st century in Australia, and here these items are still predominately paid for by men (since most are bought by men and the cost of these items are not commonly shared in female/male households unlike groceries and bills).

Yes, you got me there, Thinkabit - I should have written " .... such products are not bought 'predominantly' by women, but ONLY for exclusive use BY women." Perhaps I got that last clause wrong ?

Sorry for my confusion. To reiterate, I don't think men should pay more for tampons and other feminine products than women do, and I think that the scrapping of the GST on them is a very good and overdue move.

Joe

Men need bulkier clothes, shoulder pads and more expensive bulky cars to put women in their place , the home. Short bristly hair and 5 o'clock shadow costs men dearly. And booze which fems can't handle due to weak stomachs. Mens lives matter.

Vote buying 101 by a desperate PM who will lose unless he pulls a rabbit out of his hat.
Philip S,
I have a little rabbit called old age pension asset test & another one called Tax reform & another one called local economic stimuli that the PM could have, that is if he was really interested in staying in Govt.

The story was ''broken'' by New Idea in January 1993. Murdoch's British papers, the rest of Fleet Street and the world media then republished with abandon. The tape's notoriety was due to Prince Charles's wistful remark that he'd like to be Camilla's ''tampon'', to which she replied: ''You are a complete idiot … Oh, what a wonderful idea.''

In the republic of USA 9 states don't tax a Charles and 7 states are reviewing the hacked tapes for Russian involvement .

Morrison IS the 'rabbitt pulled out of the hat' by the lefty Liberals because they hated the idea of their Labor-lite party being pulled back to where it should be by Peter Dutton. There is nothing to be had from the rabbit, Morrison, who is too busy telling us what his job is NOT to reveal what he thinks his job IS. So far, Morrison appears to stand for nothing, believe in nothing, just like Turnbull.

ttbn,
Give the bloke a go after all even the best captain can't run a ship he iherited as a complete wreck with dill crew. Let him get out of dry dock first then judge his seamanship.
He was part of the outfit that brought in the downright idiotic asset test & thus far I have seen no changes nor is there any word on Tax reform. If he fails to at least show us he's looking at these BEFORE the election then well, he's a goner.
He can alway ring me if he's stuck for ideas ;-)

The fact is inconstance / sanitary pads are used by many men as well as women not just a few days a month but every day after bowel or urinary surgery. In some cases for the rest of their life. To claim they are gender taxed is then a lie. If such is the case there is a government subsidy toward the purchase of such; as these are then classed as health items.

individual,

Give him a go? He has had his go: a chance to cut ties with Paris, cut out subsidies on inefficient renewables, cut immigration, for just a few. He has says he is not going to do these things. The man is a grinning baboon. Peter Dutton was the only person who might have got my vote back to the Liberals, and Morrison and his good mate and mentor, Turnbull, put a stop to that. I will be writing 'none of these' on my ballot paper for the lower house, and voting for Australian Conservatives in the senate.

>Let him get out of dry dock first then judge his seamanship.
To get out of drydock, one must first be IN drydock.
And that's tentatively scheduled for May.

I think cutting tampon tax would be the right thing to do, but they should cut GST on toilet paper first.

I can't see why wiping ones backside or using menstrual products should be a source of revenue for government.

Why should the government profit from that?

It would start a trend and families and others would want no GST on diapers.
There's probably reasons for an against on that one.
But tampons and toilet paper, sure get rid of it.

I did not appreciate the Australian Democrats taking GST off the range of products.

It remains my view fewer things exempt from GST the better for Australia.