Girls’ GST petition goes viral

A school assessment has gone viral after addressing a common issue for women.

Two students at Whangaparaoa College, north of Auckland, plan to get 100,000 signatures on their petition so they can take it to Parliament.

Melanie Wilcock and Rebecca Jacobs, both 17, were surprised at the response they received when they started their petition to remove GST on women’s sanitary products.

With the idea of gaining a good grade in sociology, the pair were ‘‘over the moon’’ when they received more than 20,000 signatures in five days.

Melanie said not having GST on women’s sanitary products was something she and Rebecca believed was important.

‘‘The response was so amazing that we decided on a goal of gaining 100,000 signatures within 30 days in order to take our petition to Parliament ...

‘‘Due to the expenses of these products many young women are having to reuse disposable pads and tampons, raising the risk of toxic shock syndrome,‘‘ Melanie said.

‘‘It’s time for the Government to take action because it is ridiculous to continue taxing sanitary products as luxury items for something that we cannot control.’’