Dear Mr Howard and Dr Wooldridge, it is now 2006 and the Goods and Services Tax is STILL placed on women's sanitary products including tampons and pads/liners. And despite catcalls (usually from men) saying "It's only a few dollars more", the simple fact it that a tax on sanitary products - which are NOT a luxury or cosmetic/beauty product - is a tax on women.

As pointed out by the Women's Electoral Lobby, "As half of the Australian population experience menstruation for 30-40 years of their life through no choice of their own, these products have a good argument to be included in the GST-free list. According to A C Nielsen data 1999, $202.1 million was spent on women's menstrual products for that year. Based on this figure, the GST will raise $20.21 million a year because women menstruate. It goes without saying that menstruation without any sanitary protection at all is in fact a disability during its duration."

If we believe supporters of the GST/Howard Government, such as Professor Judith Whitworth, "They're a personal hygiene product rather than a product used to treat an illness or a disease or a disability." (Quoted from http://www.abc.net.au/am/stories/s94813.htm) True, in all except the most extreme cases, menstruation could not be considered a "disease or disability", but using tampons and pads/napkins is certainly NOT a matter of (cosmetic) choice, unless Mr Howard and his followers expect women who don't want to pay GST on these products to simply let the blood run free.

In short, it is a worryingly archaic Government that thinks women's sanitary products are not a necessity - Mr Howard and Dr Wooldridge, stop taxing Australia's women!