what piece of legislation primarily governs gst in australia
Goods and services tax (Australia) During the 1998 election campaign, the leader of the Australian Democrats, Meg Lees, stated that her party was opposed to a GST unless food, books and tourism packages sold offshore were exempt, and other compensating tax measures were implemented. The government initially stated that exemptions to the GST were not possible, and looked most likely to pass the GST legislation with the support of independent Senator Brian Harradine. However a compromise was eventually reached with Lees, involving most basic food items being exempt from the GST, the GST on library purchases of books being refunded, a temporary 8% refund on school textbooks, increases to welfare payments, and greater powers to the ACCC to oversee the implementation of the new tax regime. A proposal to exempt tampons from the GST was dismissed by Howard.[5] The legislation was passed on 28 June 1999 as A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999. It gained assent on 8 July 1999 and came into operation on 1 July 2000.