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STATDEEN BY THE PRIME MINISTER, THE MYN P. J. KEATING MP
CST CONFUSION HKWSON MUST RELEASE COLE COMMITTEE REPRT
For the Past three days the Opposition Leader and his
frontbench have failed in spectacular fashion trying to
explain how the GST will work.
They have confirmed the comunxity's doubts about the GET and
highlighted even more anomalies in the system.
Dr Howson has maid he will spend 18 months aftern the election
explaining the GST to the community. This is not good enough.
People have a right to know before they vote how the GST will
affect them personally and how it will affect small business.
I want Dr Hewson to be heard. I want Australians to hear him
In total silence. I want Australians to hear him try to
explain the unexplainable and make sense of the senseless.
I want to hear him say why a 15 per cent tax slug is good for
them. why abolishing Medicare is good for them. Why the
laoro youth is worthf Sfiiihour.
Dr Hewson wants to look people in the eye and tell them bad is
good. Dr Hewson is fond of saying he will look people in the eye.
I now call upon him to truly look the Australian people in the
eye by releasing the Cole Committee
recommendations and the Su~ bmissions put to that committee.
If he doesn't people will be right in concluding that Dr
Howson wants to hide the full Story Of the GST.
If he doesn't release the report and the submissions made to
the Committee it will be because it shows the GST to be not
only unfair, but absurd.
Nowhere is this better illustrated than with food.
Since Fightbacc Mark II, the Opposition has been proposing to
zero rate certain food for home consumption other than
takeaway food.
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What does that moan for something like the Australian pie?
In Canada if you buy a Cold meat pie, it's not taxed. But if
you buy a hot meat pie, it's taxed. The same is true for the
UK. So if You buy a cold moat__ pie and take it home and heat it up.
you only pay GST on tiheelectricity or gas to heat it. But If
you buy a hot meat pie and take it home and re-heat it, you
pay tax on the pie as well as the electricity or gas.
What about an apple pie? In Canada, it depends on whether it
Is hot or cold. If it is hoft thanit in taxable. If it is
cold, then it depends how big It is and ho-wmany you buy. If
you buy one Individual cold apple pie, you pay GST. If you
buy five individual cold apple pies, you pay GST on them. But
if you buy six or more at once, then they will be GST free.
If you buy a family size cold apple pie and take it home, then
it is GST free.
In the United Kingdom, it depends on where you intend to * at
the coldapi pie.-If you sit down at a table at the bakery,
then you pay tax on the pie. If you intend to take It home
then it is tax free.
Dr Hewson hasn't told us exactly~ how he intends to tax pies,
but the Canadian and British examples provide a good guide on
the ludicrous nature of his tax.
Dr Howson's GST is an absurdity tor small1 business,
particularly small business in the takeaway food industry.
These small businesses will not only carry the fully
compliance cost of this tax, they will also have to Cary the
additional burden of dividing their sales into food and
takeaway food items.
On top of that a 15 per cent GST on what they sell will
depress sales.
Par from strengthening small business as Dr Hewson claims, his
GST will force small business to lay off staff to cope with
the higher costs and lower demand.
Dr Howson ignores the takeawey food industry. In fact in
Australia, more than 25 per cent of household expenditure on
food Is on takeaway and restaurant food and more than half of
this is on takeaways. It is therefore totally misleading to
claim am the Opposition does that Dr Howson's GST exempts
food. Food is but one area of massive confusion over the GST. If Dr
Hewson does not release the Cole Committee report the
Australian people will be right in concluding that there are
many more.
NOWRA
March 4. 1993 63929