Retail Coalition set to register as a company as it fights against GST exemption

The Retail Coalition is set to ramp up its lobbying activities this week, with the group preparing to lodge as a company with ASIC in order to hire a chief executive and board of directors in preparation with a fight centred on Canberra.

The move comes as the Furnishing Industry Association of Australia has also thrown its support behind the campaign, saying local manufacturers are at risk.

“The furniture industry faces a constant battle against uneven and unfair policies that benefit our international competitors who don’t have the high costs suffered by business in Australia,” FIAA general manager of Victoria and Tasmania, Rohan Wright, said in a statement.

“International manufacturers already have many advantages over Australian furniture manufacturers, with comparatively tiny labour costs, low regulatory overheads and the strong Australian dollar really tipping the scales in their favour.”

Wright says the industry employs over 70,000 and that “there is too much at stake to hand such an advantage to overseas competitors”.

As reported by Fairfax, the coalition of retailers is understood to be preparing the documents in order to hire staff and bolster its campaign to either introduce GST for imports under $1,000 or have the 10% tax stripped altogether.

The move comes after Harvey Norman chairman Gerry Harvey said he would take a more back-seat approach to the campaign after he became the target of scathing personal attacks. Harvey was the unofficial spokesperson of the campaign after he said retailers would start losing jobs if Australians kept shopping overseas instead of locally.

Fairfax reports the Retail Coalition will soon develop a constitution, board of directors, company secretary and employees, along with a chief executive. A dial-in that occurred this morning reportedly involved several of the Coalition’s members and was scheduled to discuss the next stage of the plan.

The Coalition’s members include Harvey, Solomon Lew and Myer chief executive Bernie Brooks, along with smaller players such as domain name registry Netregistry.

The Coalition’s new plans come as it prepares to become more organised ahead of a long-term campaign. Today’s conference call is said to be the first of many, with two to occur each week in order for members to stay in touch.

The move comes despite a wave of public backlash against the campaign, with shoppers largely labelling it as simply complaints of billionaires. But the report claims the move to create a new company is an attempt to give the platform a more professional feel.

The move also represents the Coalition’s determination – despite the backlash it has not backed down.

“That’s not in my nature to run away – I’ll stand up and fight,” he told the ABC earlier this month.
“If I think something is right I’ll fight for it… always have. If it’s wrong or I’ve been proved wrong I’ll walk away and I’ll apologise.”