Carrie Bickmore, host of Network Ten's The Project, has clashed with shadow health minister Catherine King after the Labor MP defended her party's decision not to back a Greens bill that would have removed the GST on tampons, pads and other sanitary items.
With the major parties not voting for the axe, how can we get rid of the #TamponTax? MC Bicks and DJ Box break it d… https://t.co/w6yYquQBH2
On Monday, the Senate voted down the Greens bill 15-33, with shadow treasurer Chis Bowen telling BuzzFeed News that Labor believes in exempting tampons and other sanitary products from the GST – but not via the Greens' proposed amendment.
"The fact of the matter is that if the Greens amendment was successful in getting up today it would have sunk the GST Low Value Threshold legislation, ensuring that thousands of Australian retailers continue without a level playing field against foreign retailers," he said.
Appearing on The Project on Tuesday night, King said the Greens' bill was a "stunt" which would have "basically scuttled the opportunity we had for retailers in this country to have an even playing field with foreign retailers".
But Bickmore insisted that this was an issue easily fixed. "It's 2017," she said. "It seems absolutely ridiculous that we're having this conversation."
"When you start saying things like 'we have to find other ways to fund hospitals'... like it seems like that's a shame that that's where the conversation ends," said Bickmore. "Because in principle it just shouldn't be there, but then people aren't wanting hospitals defunded."
