Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

That is right, member for Lilley; they are having a tea party instead. They are talking about climate change and all those things about the future of the world—sadly, a story we saw play out 10 years ago with the same actors but in different roles. Labor's principle on this issue has been clear from the start. We believe in creating a level playing field for Australian retailers who compete with overseas retailers, while ensuring that we have a workable model that can be easily complied with by overseas retailers and online platforms without any adverse impact on Australian consumers. To achieve this we must delay the commencement of this legislation by one year to ensure greater consultation and analysis of the vendor registration model. Australia needs to get this right. We must conduct a proper review of the proposed changes to ensure that we can get the changes right. Any measure must have a high degree of compliance and not have significant adverse consumer outcomes.

As I made clear at the outset, Labor supports the collection of GST on low-value imports in principle. But I have little faith in this government properly considering all of the moving parts in making this important reform. Unfortunately, that will mean my constituents in Moreton will suffer accordingly.

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