ASGA Chief Moves to Cricket Australia

Sean Cary, Executive Director of the Australian Sporting Goods Association (ASGA), has taken up the position of Umpire Manager at Cricket Australia.
Reflecting on his five years with ASGA before his departure Cary stated âwithout the financial contribution and in a lot of situations, many hours of personal involvement, we would not have been able to evolve ASGA into the organisation it is today.
âI still believe there is plenty to achieve for ASGA and my successor will need to hit the ground running so as not to lose any momentum. However, whoever replaces me, they should feel confident the industry is on-side and wanting ASGA to achieve more.�?
Before departing ASGA, Cary travelled to Canberra to meet with Treasury and the Australian Taxation Office, along with other Chief Executives from like industry bodies, to discuss the GST free threshold for imported goods.
As Cary stated âASGA has made a submission to the Government, along with the industry bodies including toys, fishing tackle, bikes, cameras and music, recommending (that) in the next Federal Budget, the Government reduces the GST tax free threshold, immediately, for imported goods from $1,000 to $400. This will bring the threshold in line with New Zealand.
âPost the Budget announcement the group will also ask the Government to do a thorough review of threshold issue, with the hope they will further reduce it to come in line with other developed and major developing countries. For example Canada and the UK have GST thresholds below $100.
âAs many of you are experiencing, this unlevel playing field of taxation between personal shoppers and legitimate businesses is causing some major headaches. I am hopeful the cross industry approach to Government will have a positive impact in the near future.�?