Australian retailer Harvey Norman said on Tuesday that his business continued to survive despite the competition from offshore portals that do not charge Australia's goods and services tax and import duties on items costing less than $1,000.

Gerry Harvey, chief executive of Harvey Norman, and other major Australian retailers waged a campaign in late 2010 for the Commonwealth to mandate offshore online shops to impose the GST on all purchases made by Australian shoppers regardless of the price tag.

Mr Harvey blamed the unfair advantage enjoyed by the offshore online shops for weaker sales experienced by other Australian retailers such as clothes and shoe shops which were laying off employees and closing shops.

The latest to fall was high-end retailer Satch, which went under administration.

As proof of Harvey Norman's ability to withstand foreign online competition, the retailer said last week that it would open an online shopping presence in October. Harvey Norman registered a 9 per cent increase in net profit for fiscal year 2011, although Mr Norman was more cautious for 2012's sales.

Mr Norman's plan is to launch the online presence from China but the shop will delivery goods to Australia with the buyer not paying 10 percent GST, Channel News reported.

However, Deutsche Bank retail analyst Paul van Meurs pointed out that Harvey Norman may find online retailing a challenge because of the type of goods it sells such as electronic goods, appliances and furniture, entertainment and bedding goods. The Sydney-based company has 230 outlets in Australia and five other countries.

"The problem is... are you really going to order a TV out of Korea or China and risk that you'll have a different spec, or a different system or no warranty, or it arrives and it's broke," Mr van Meurs told The Sydney Morning Herald.

In response to the Australian retailers clamor, Assistant Treasurer Bill Shorten explained that there was no government policy to charge online shoppers the GST, but promised to study the concerns raised by the local retailers.