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ALP signals opposition on GST

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

2 min read

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Source: AAP


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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.

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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.


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