The treasurer maintains he's in lock-step with the prime minister and has the trust of his colleagues, despite a credit card bungle in which he was sidelined.
The Australian Taxation Office recently announced abruptly it would stop taking credit card payments after the Reserve Bank banned passing on surcharges to customers.
That was immediately criticised by small businesses and the coalition, which said the changes hurt families already doing it tough.
It prompted the chief executive of the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Andrew McKellar, to contact Prime Minister Anthony Albanese directly and request the government intervene.
"That was an example of a relationship that takes time to develop. That trust, where you can have a discussion and say 'it is in hand, I agree with what you are saying, and I will get it done'," Mr Albanese told a commerce industry gala.
Shortly after the text, Treasurer Jim Chalmers fronted the media and confirmed the government would cover surcharge costs while undertaking more consultation.
The back-and-forth showed that Mr Albanese had a "kink for punishing small businesses" and a "fetish for humiliating his treasurer", shadow treasurer Tim Wilson said.
"I see this as a consistent pattern of behaviour where the prime minister constantly goes in, overrides his treasurer, humiliates him in public," Mr Wilson told News24.
Dr Chalmers insisted he hadn't been rolled by the prime minister on the issue and said he had already discussed intervening in the ban before Mr Albanese made the call.
"The prime minister and I had the same view," he said
Dr Chalmers conceded more research should have occurred before the ban was announced.
"It's self-evident and it's clear that more consultation should have happened," he told reporters on Wednesday.
"That's the reason we provided we're providing the resources to the ATO to take more time."
He would not confirm if the credit card ban was likely to be overturned entirely, saying more conversations were required.