FED: Democrats to demand food removal from GST: Lees

AAP General News (Australia)
04-19-1999
FED: Democrats to demand food removal from GST: Lees

CANBERRA, April 19 AAP -The Australian Democrats would definitely be demanding the
exclusion of food from the government's proposed GST, leader Meg Lees said today.

The final battle on the GST starts today when the Senate commences the marathon debate that
will decide the fate of the government's radical new tax system.

The debate kicks off with the tabling of the major senate report into the GST, which is
sure to demand major changes such as the exclusion of food from the tax, or massive increases
in compensation for low income earners.

However, Prime Minister John Howard yesterday made clear the government had no intention of
compromising the GST, and was prepared to risk the entire tax plan to prevent it being watered
down in the Senate.

Senator Lees said today she was unable to understand why the government was being so
obstinate on the issue.

"The kindest thing I can say is that they have not bothered to read the evidence," she told
ABC Radio.

"There is also the evidence that most countries who have this type of tax, indeed the vast
majority, have food treated as a special case.

Now if some 700 million people around the world in the western countries can do it, why
can't we?"

Senator Lees said the Democrats had tried to leave their options open in the senate report
to be tabled later today.

But she said up to 5 million people could be left worse off and any compensation offered by
the government would be unlikely to be enough to win Democrat support if food stayed in the
GST package.

"The amount of compensation if they keep food in ... is billions and billions of dollars.
It is not the couple of billion we understand they have got in their back pocket," she said.

"I think the first step we are looking for this week is acknowledgement from government
that they have to talk to the Senate - that we are the second chamber of the Australian
parliament, and we are simply not going to let this through in the form it is in now."

Senator Lees said also she believed that even if the present GST package passed the Senate,
both Labor and the Democrats would campaign hard for the removal of food at future elections.

"While the Labor party is saying that once the GST is there we cannot undo it, I think you
will see them campaigning to make it fairer next election and probably winning on that basis,"
she said.

AAP rft/it

KEYWORD: TAX LEES

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