PM Archive - Friday, 21 January , 2000 00:00:00 Reporter: Matt Peacock COMPERE: First to tampons, and women seeing red.



ADAM SPENCER (Triple J announcer): . on JJJ. Well, we've been talking about the men who ran away from reality and classified tampons as a bit of a luxury as far as the GST is concerned. It's 8.19. Someone with a bit of an opinion is Amanda from Kensington in New South Wales. How are you going, Amanda.



ON-LINE CALLER: I'm good, thanks.



ADAM SPENCER: What are your thoughts on this whole GST tampon luxury issue?



ON-LINE CALLER: I just think that the male Liberal people think that we throw out a form and ask for the menstrual cycle.



ADAM SPENCER: "Would you like to menstruate, yes or no? Your fault for ticking the 'yes' box, sister."



Let's go to Rachael from Melbourne. Rachael, how are you.



ON-LINE CALLER: I'm extremely fine. Hi.



ADAM SPENCER: Not bad at all. Now, what's your take on this whole thing?



ON-LINE CALLER: Well, I think, Terry, your PMS protest idea is a fantastic idea and what you could do is extend it by about a week, keep the same women there, just have them find the nicest, best upholstered chairs they can in Parliament House and sit there and explain they're just budgeting this week and there's no money for luxuries, sorry about that. And soon it won't just be the women of Australia seeing red.



COMPERE: Callers to the ABC's JJJ this morning. The Federal Health Minister, Michael Wooldridge, appears to have stirred up a hornet's nest after rejecting the suggestion that tampons should be GST-free. Doctor Wooldridge says tampons are not an item which prevent disease like sunburn cream and therefore should not be exempted from the new tax.



And as our chief political correspondent, Matt Peacock reports, the Health Minister has further inflamed female anger by comparing tampons to shaving cream.



MATT PEACOCK: Currently the Government is still deciding just which products you might find at your local chemist shop are GST-free and which are not. And today the Health Minister, Doctor Michael Wooldridge, was quite clear on the matter. Things which help to prevent disease, he said, like sunburn cream, should be exempt, but other more cosmetic items should not be. So, he was asked, should tampons be tax-free?



MICHAEL WOOLDRIDGE: As a bloke, I'd like shaving cream exempt, but I'm not expecting it to be.



REPORTER: Well, condoms are exempt though. Do you think .



MICHAEL WOOLDRIDGE: Well, condoms prevent illness. I wasn't aware that menstruation was an illness.



REPORTER: Right. Well, what about pills that are .



MICHAEL WOOLDRIDGE: Prevent illness.



REPORTER: Aspirin?



MICHAEL WOOLDRIDGE: Well, aspirin's a medication.



REPORTER: Sun screen?



MICHAEL WOOLDRIDGE: Sun screen prevents illness.



REPORTER: So tampons shouldn't be exempt because they don't prevent illness?



MICHAEL WOOLDRIDGE: Well, no, shaving cream isn't exempt, soap isn't exempt, toilet paper isn't exempt. I mean, the point is some things are going up but some things are coming down, and people have a lot more money in their pocket so they'll be far better off.



MATT PEACOCK: Doctor Michael Wooldridge.



Already there are howls of protest from angry women, with an E-mail petition growing hourly. Labor's Shadow Minister, Jenny Macklin:



JENNY MACKLIN: This is a $20 million tax for the first time on all Australian women who need to use either tampons or pads every month, the first time they've ever had to pay this tax, and it's a huge tax on an essential sanitary item.



MATT PEACOCK: But why shouldn't they pay the tax when you are paying it on shaving cream if you're a man?



JENNY MACKLIN: Well, it's not quite the same thing, is it, tampons versus shaving - versus shaving cream. And I think that insult from the Health Minister will be heard by all the Australian women who have to use these products.



MATT PEACOCK: How is that an insult though? I mean, men have to shave, you know, their hair grows, and women bleed.



JENNY MACKLIN: Not quite the same hygienic problems involved, Matt. We've had an E-mail just today, one of about 5000 E-mails that have been received in just this week about this issue, and as this woman says in her E-mail to Doctor Wooldridge, she says it would be an extremely unhygienic mess every month - these products are essential, they're necessary. They are, of course, currently classified as health products, if the Minister had any understanding about what it meant to Australian women, he'd realise that he should continue the tax-free status that these products have had forever.



MATT PEACOCK: And what sort of response have you had from your constituency on this issue?



JENNY MACKLIN: Well, we've noticed that there's been a grass-roots E-mail campaign started. The E-mails have been going to Senator Faulkner for the Labor Party, Senator Lees from the Democrats, Senator Olsten and Senator Boswell, and up to today, 5000 names have been received, 2000 in the last 24 hours. So there's certainly a ground swell of anger about women being taxed in this way. Very, very many women are starting to find out about it and letting the Government and, of course, us know about it. We'll certainly be supporting their campaign to get this tax taken off essential items which, of course, is what these sanitary products are.



COMPERE: Labor Shadow Minister, Jenny Macklin.