What price a Goods and Services Tax for the Barkly?

Maggie Hickey, Member for Barkly

We've all been doing our calculations and working out whether our families and our region will be better or worse off under Howard's proposed tax reforms. Personally, as a high income earner, I'd be doing even better than I am now. For many people living in the Barkly, the opposite will be the case and the ramifications are quite frightening. Take food as one example.
We are what we eat, so the saying goes. Poor and inappropriate nutrition leads to poor health - heart disease, diabetes, renal problems - the list is depressing. We already have huge health problems in the Barkly as a result of poor nutrition and a Goods and Services Tax will only make that worse...
Currently, fresh vegetables, fresh fruit and meat and many other foodstuffs carry no tax. Others, especially processed foods like Coca Cola and Chicko Rolls, currently have wholesale sales tax. With a GST, take off all existing taxes and apply 10% across the board.
In remote communities, where fresh fruit and vegetables already cost a fortune, their price will rise by a further 10%. But processed products - the fast foods, the deep fried items etc, will at worst, stay about the same as they are now and may even drop in price.
For people on low incomes, the temptation to buy takeaways rather than fresh foods, is going to be even greater. And this doesn't apply just to the poor and those living in remote communities. We all eat far more takeaway foods and processed items from the supermarket than did our parents and grandparents. And as a nation, we are getting fatter and less fit and that's costing us dearly in health care. We need incentives to eat healthy, whole foods, no further reasons to buy instant rubbish.