Hockey has proposed collecting GST at the source, such as Amazon and other
global e-commerce giants, rather than from customers at the borders.

But Edstein claims online shoppers should be treated the like airline
passengers, who can claim most personal overseas purchases as duty-free, he
told Fairfax Media.

And he hinted that Hockey’s plan to have the online retailers, including
Amazon, collect the tax at source and forward it to Australia is unlikely to
work.

“We are not 100 per cent sure whether they are going to be able to collect
it at source. You have obviously got to negotiate different tax treaties, etc,
with these organisations,” he said.

DHL yesterday opened a new $20 million facility at Melbourne Airport. It
employs almost 100 people and comprises a 5300 sq. m warehouse, offices and
state-of-the-art installations capable of processing shipments of more than
53,000kg each day.