Deputy Kristina Moore says she is 'disappointed' after Reform Jersey Deputy Lyndsay Feltham labelled her 'disingenuous' over her decision to not remove tax from period products.
In an interview, Deputy Feltham said that the Chief Minister won an election on the principle that putting GST on sanitary products was 'discriminatory'.
However, Deputy Moore says she has been 'clear' it was never her position that it would be necessary to remove the levy if the products were available for free.
"At the time of the debate, many of us recognised that making period products free could be a better solution than removing GST.
But as I told members, the previous government’s assurance that it would look at making them free might never have come to pass, given it had less than two months left to serve until the election.
As I made clear, that is why I decided to press ahead with my proposition: in order to put on record the will of the Assembly to tackle this important issue."
The Chief Minister says that she believes her government has 'tackled' the issue, with deeds and 'not assurances'.
Social Security Minister Deputy Elaine Millar said at the time that she believed it was a better alternative to removing GST.
Deputy Moore agrees and says experience shows retailers might 'never pass on the saving' of zero-rating products.
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