What a long 18 years it has been.

 

After 18 years of resistance by the government, $30 million dollars taken annually from woman and as a consequence, serve hardship, Scott Morrison has finally delivered overdue relief for millions of Australian women.

“Scrapping the tampon tax will make sanitary products more affordable – but just as importantly, it will be an important step forward in gender equality” says Labor’s health spokeswoman Catherine King.

However, as a consequence to us as a result of abolishing the tampon tax, it has been made known that the Coalition prepares to legislate a $7.2 billion top up that will dwarf any GST lost from the sanitary items….oh Australia.

TR

AXE THE TAX

Abolish the burden draining our income

X-tremely unfair treatment

Everybody deserves equality rights

 

Tell the government your thoughts – speak up

Help woman axe this burden we currently live with

Equality is a human right

 

The time has come, let’s make a change

Absolute bloody disgrace

X – there is no X-cuse

What is menstural equality?

In order to have a completely equal society, there needs to be a law in place that takes into account the fact that half the population menstruates. Period’s are one of the most ignored equality issues around the globe, it should not even be a question whether menstrual products should be exempt from tax. Tampons need to be both affordable and available for everyone, as well as safe for our bodies and the environment. The ability to access tampons affects a person’s freedom to work, study and be healthy. Periods should not hold anyone back, period.

Being a woman is fantastic…being taxed is not.

TR

$30 Million Dollar Baby

What does $30 million dollars mean? If this tampon tax is enforced surely it must mean that the government really needs it and is frugal with it’s spending, right?

Well.

According to recent figures, the Australian government spent a record high of $85568 AUD million dollars in 2018. But wait, not just the whole of 2018, but rather the second quarter, beating out Q1 of 2018’s previous record setting $84709 AUD million dollars. Well, maybe the Australian government isn’t necessarily being frugal with it’s spending, but at least what it’s spending it’s massive budget on must so important that they can’t afford to get rid of the $30 million dollars a year in spending, right?

Well.

The government spent 31.2 AUD billion dollars last year on defence, meaning cutting $30 million dollars from the military budget alone would mean a reduction of less than 0.1%. It spent a further $546 AUD million dollars on sports and recreational events. This is not to say that defence and recreation are not important, but what it does mean is that when the government claims that they truly cannot afford to exempt tampons from the GST laws, it is simply spinning a lie that it has been spinning for almost 20 years.

It’s time for change.

#equalityperiod.

-JR

Get on board! Send a letter to your local government

Dear……

My name is …… and I am writing to you with regards to GST being applied to sanitary products.

I have considered all of the arguments surrounding the tax and its application. I have considered whether it is true that without the GST collected on tax there will be an economic impact on the States and Territories that receive this money; I have considered whether the item should be considered a “luxury” or “non-essential” item; I have considered whether there is fairness in the application of GST against other similar items like sunscreen and condoms; I have considered the implications for those suffering from illness that require sanitary products to simply try to go about h]living a normal life; and, I have considered whether a different outcome would have been reached in Parliament last year when considering the removal of GST on these items had there been a greater gender balance in the representation in the house.

I have decided that while all of the above do raise some interesting points to consider it really comes down to a very simple point, do you agree that a tax should be applied to half of the population based on their biology? I find it concerning that after two decades of conversations on this issue there has been no progress, I find it concerning that in almost twenty years we have a government that still believes it has made the right choice to tax half of the population based on their gender.

It has been brought to my attention that the Prime Minister does not believe there is “enough noise” on the subject for it to be considered and I am therefore asking for you to make “some noise” on this issue on behalf of those you represent.

I look forward to receiving a response from you which indicates how you will show your support of this issue both at a local level but also nationally.

Yours Sincerely,

…..

Reference:

https://www.sharethedignity.com.au/axethetax/

-TR

Not a luxury!

There is no feasible alternative to buying sanitary items for women. Modern life requires women to take part in the every day – working, exercising, studying and many other activities. These activities would not be possible without sanitary items. These sanitary items are needed every month for all women. They are not a luxury. There are no other essential items that attract GST that are only bought by one sex. The voices of the Australian women need to be heard. Equality…PERIOD!

Join the movement and help us #axethetax

Read more about the history of the tampon tax here: http://www.dscribe.net.au/2017/08/27/tampons-and-sanitary-pads-are-not-luxury-items/

– OR