Solomon Lew ... the economy has "run out of time". Photo: Bloomberg
Retail mogul and billionaire Solomon Lew has made a blistering attack on the government, warning that the economy has "run out of time" over the issue of the $1000 GST-free threshold for purchases made over the internet, with Australian jobs and businesses at risk.
Speaking this morning at the annual general meeting for his retail business Premier Investments, which owns Just Jeans, Portmans and other clothing chains, Mr Lew said there was such overwhelming evidence of damage done to the local economy by the tax loophole that governments must act.
"My message to the government is that we have all run out if time. Change needs to be made right now and if the government needs any further proof of what's at stake I have one word for them - jobs!" Mr Lew said.
Last week a GST review made by former NSW premier Nick Greiner and former Victorian premier John Brumby recommended consumers pay GST on overseas purchases made over the web.
The federal government said it needed more time to assess the impact of the changes.
Yesterday, Assistant Treasurer David Bradbury said that the $1000 threshold was ''very high'' compared with overseas, and the government would start preparing ''business cases'' for changing the tax rules governing low-value goods purchased from overseas.
But Canberra is not moving fast enough for Mr Lew.
"My message to the government is that we have all run out of time," Mr Lew said this morning.
"In every other comparable country, governments have recognised the need to deal with this issue as a serious matter of public policy and have already acted - while our government plays 'process' games."
Premier chief executive Mark McInnes agreed, calling the loophole "an appaling piece of government policy".
Mr Lew said during the year Premier had invested heavily in its online retail business with 67 per cent growth in internet sales during financial year 2012. But, he said, no Australian online business was capable of reaching its full potential while a "flawed, two-tiered tax system remains in place".
In a withering attack Mr Lew said the current government policy on the GST-free threshold failed the fundamental test of good governance to act responsibly.
Canberra should not, he said, ‘‘pander to perceived populism at the expense of sound public policy''.
He said the government was also failing Australians and the hundreds of thousands of people who work in retail, the nation's largest employment sector. Mr Lew added it was very hard to compete when ‘‘your own government is on the side of foreign competitors''.
He also called on the RBA to make a meaningful cut to official interest rates today
No comments:
Post a Comment