Ok, Australia.
We’ve spoken about the tampon tax before.
We’ve talked about its absurdity, and its inherent sexism, and how much money Australian women are wasting each year.
Until today, I thought we’d had a pretty good yarn about it. Covered all the bases. Put forth an argument it was almost impossible (despite the continued pig-headedness of politicians) to ignore for long.
But as it turns out, there was something missing.
Enter ‘Drip Shop’, the outrageously excellent parody of Macklemore’s ‘Thrift Shop’ masterminded by the University of Queensland Law Revue.
With lines like “Your grammy, your aunty, your mama, your mammy, all the ladies bleed from our fannies, we need some pads on that motherf–ker”, it appears this video is the next necessary (and hilarious) step towards abolishing the tampon tax.
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It raises some interesting points but it's operates on a number of misconceptions - the GST isn't a tax of luxury items, instead it's a tax on taxable supply. The intention of the Howard Government when it was first introduced back in 2004 was that it would be a tax on any transaction that involved goods or services in Australia, and in fairness to them they had won a mandate at the previous election to introduce it. As the ALP and the Greens voted against it, the government needed the votes of the Australian Democrats who were split on the issue to pass the legislation through the senate.
The democrats supported the legislation provided certain items be exempt from the legislation - this included certain food, and education items, but for some reason didn't include hygiene products including tampons despite the fact that the Democrats initially wanted them excluded. If the Howard Government had had it's way, both Tampons and Condom, the discrepancy highlighted in the video, would be subject to the tax.
Is it sexist - on the one hand yes, it's a tax on an item that only women buy for a fact of their biology whereas items like condoms are exempt. And the GST is a problem for women on lower incomes who may find it more difficult to afford the product, particularly if they have large families to provide for. This a problem with the GST overall - it's a regressive tax that hits those with limited economic means harder than it does those with better access to cash.
That being said it's worth noting that the tax is only 10%, so not a huge part of the overall cost of the item. Much of the cost in relation to Tampons will go to the manufacturer and retailer - this could also be said to be sexist as it's a profit from women's biology going to corporate directors and shareholders whom are probably more likely to be male. And there is no guarantee that should the tax be removed manufacturers and retailers would pass it on to the consumer - as the retailer is the one paying the tax they may simply choose not to pass the saving on but keep it as revenue.
The other thing the GST does that is positive is that is combats what's known as the dark economy. For instance if you're paid in cash, there is no guarantee that you'll declare that income to the ATO and no real way for the ATO to trace it. If everyone has to pay GST, it's harder to avoid paying the tax. Although I personally come down on the side of it's a regressive tax, the GST does have it's uses and it's an important part of our tax system.
Personally I think a better way to address the problems raised in this video is to secure a Universal Basic Income - that is every citizen is guaranteed an income to cost the basic costs of living so people don't have to choose between say hygiene products and other essentials.
This is brilliant! Also super catchy... It's been stuck in my head all arvo