Small Business Minister Anne Aly has denounced an Opposition member’s comments that she be “stoned in the square.”
Small Business Minister Anne Aly has denounced an Opposition member’s comments that she be “stoned in the square”, while stating she has received 19 death threats in the past week alone.
Taking to social media on Tuesday evening, Minister Aly responded to Liberal National MP Angie Bell, who had challenged the Minister over the Australian Taxation Office’s plan to stop accepting credit card payments.
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On Tuesday, Bell told the House of Representatives that the government’s handling of small business policy is “punishing small business” and “sending them broke”.
“This minister and this Prime Minister should be absolutely shamed and stoned in the square,” Bell said, referring to Minister Aly.
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke challenged the comments in Parliament, with Bell formally withdrawing them afterwards.
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“I don’t usually comment about these things, but I feel like I have to,” Minister Aly said in her subsequent social media video.
“This past week alone, I’ve had 19 death threats on my social media.
“And in the past, I’ve had death threats that are couched in that exact same language: ‘Stone her’.”
The comments went against Australian values, and referenced regimes that “use brutal methods, like stoning, against women”, she continued.
The Minister added that the remarks were “racist” and “misogynistic”, and “should never have been said”.
In her video, the government’s small business spokesperson did not provide further detail on the 19 death threats recently sent to her on social media.
But Minister Aly, the first Muslim woman elected to federal parliament, has for years recounted death threats related to her faith and prior work in anti-terrorism research.
Heated debate reaches new levels
Bell’s comments came amid heated debate over the government’s response to an ATO plan to stop accepting credit card payments.
The tax office, which said it would need to bear $200 million in card acceptance fees each year as a result of the October 1 card surcharge ban, announced earlier this month that it would cease accepting credit card payments after November 30.
Its announcement caused a near-instant backlash from small businesses, which feared the ban would seriously affect those using credit cards to smooth out their cash flow, or build up a rewards points balance.
On Friday, pressure on the government saw Treasurer Jim Chalmers commit new government funding that will allow the ATO to accept credit cards through the current financial year.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has since revealed he personally intervened in the plan, after concerns over the ATO plan reached the very highest levels of government.
But Treasurer Chalmers presented the decision as a joint effort, telling reporters this morning that he and Albanese had discussed an extension to the ATO timeline as early as Wednesday last week.