Tanya Plibersek has been slammed over Labor’s handling of the ATO credit card surcharge ban, with the government accused of failing to consult small businesses and misleading Australians about the policy’s promised savings.
Speaking on Sunrise, the Social Services Minister was questioned why small business owners were given as little as eight hours’ notice, despite the government knowing about the plan three months before its announcement.
“Well, the tax office were considering this, and the government asked the tax office to go and talk to the banks to see if they could get a better deal on the credit card surcharges that were being charged,” she said on Monday morning.
Ms Plibersek also insisted the policy was designed to deliver savings for businesses while defending the government’s decision to extend the transition period following complaints.
“But let’s just take a step back. We’re doing this to save businesses’ money and to save consumers’ money. We’re talking about close to a billion dollars of savings for businesses,” she added.
“We listen to business, and we’ve extended the time that they can use the old credit card arrangements that they had previously, but we are all about supporting small business.”
But Nationals leader Matt Canavan strongly refuted disputed the minister’s claims, arguing the ban would not eliminate the underlying fees and could instead force businesses to increase prices to cover the costs.
“No there is not. That is a load of rubbish,” Mr Canavan said in response to Ms Plibersek’s claim the move will see a “$1.9 billion saving to consumers”.
“There’s no savings here. The surcharges still get charged.
“So, of course, small businesses are going to raise their prices for everything else. They have to.”
He also criticised Labor for what he described as a lack of consultation, warning the charges could make costs less transparent for consumers.
“Hiding them (surcharges) behind these changes...not talking to small business, now they’re giving them a nine month extension, is exactly why this economy is going to fall, because Tanya clearly does not understand how business works,” Mr Canavan said.