ALP signals opposition on GST

Labor's Anthony Albanese says the opposition won't back an 'extension' of the GST.

The federal opposition has signalled it won't be backing proposed changes to the GST.

Shadow minister Anthony Albanese has avoided directly responding to questions about lowering the $1000 threshold on imports, but says Labor won't back an "extension" of the tax.

The states and territories are due to argue the case for a lower GST threshold on foreign imports, at the first meeting of the Standing Council on Federal Financial Relations since the change of government in Canberra on Wednesday.

Mr Albanese instead took aim at the government's attempt to repeal the mining tax introduced under Labor prime ministers Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard.

"The only thing they introduced (to parliament) was something to give the big miners a tax break which they don't need," Mr Albanese told reporters near Hobart.

Struggling states like Tasmania were in danger of missing out on GST revenue if the government reformed the tax, Mr Albanese said.

"We won't be voting for the cuts to this (mining) tax," he said.

"We won't be voting for Tasmania to miss out on its share of the GST.

"We won't be voting for an extension of the GST.

"We won't be voting for an increase of the rate of the GST either."

Retailers have argued online shopping from overseas-based websites is enjoying a boom partly because of its GST-free status.


Share

2 min read

Published

Updated

Source: AAP


Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world