Senator PARER (Minister for Resources and Energy)(5.53 p.m.) —I do not believe that it is creating another problem. As I pointed out—I do not know whether you were here; I am unsure—we are talking about the commercial importations, that is all, not personal importations. Currently, as it stands, if someone imports goods by post, they are not subject to this charge which applies if they import those goods by air, sea or courier.

As I mentioned earlier in discussion—this is anecdotal, but given to me by Customs people—with the figure at $1,000, it is very simple for people to organise a whole series of split consignments. It is the sort of thing you do in a small business. It is legitimate; there is nothing wrong with it. They are not doing anything illegal. It is what you would do just to be prudent in your business, to save a few bucks. It has been explained to me by Customs that it is not unusual to see in the post a series of little packages all much the same but below the threshold. I will just mention that to you.

I suppose that it is not creating another problem. I do not think anyone, apart from Senator Margetts, disagrees with the concept of user pays in this particular instance. But you are getting one group of people picking a mode of transport which gives them advantages not available to people who use three other modes of transport. That is simply what it is about.