Labor reverses credit card surcharge call after backlash, but businesses are still angry
Australian Treasurer Jim Chalmers has reversed a decision to ban credit card payments to the Australian Taxation Office following significant backlash from small businesses. The government will now temporarily cover surcharge costs, a move seen as a response to intense public and political pressure.
Why it matters
The reversal underscores the sensitivity of the current Australian government to small business concerns and the influence of public opinion on economic policy.
The federal government will temporarily cover credit card surcharges on payments to the Australian Taxation Office after pressure from small business. ( Pexels: Towfiqu Barbhuiya )
Link copied Share Share article Australia's fastest drivers are descending on Bathurst this weekend, but it's Treasurer Jim Chalmers setting records for reversing at speed.
Fresh from a trip to Japan, where he met with investors to sell Australia as an economic partner, Chalmers announced two spectacular government backdowns.
First, he revealed Labor would temporarily cover the cost of surcharges so the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) ban on credit card payments could be delayed by six months.
Then he confirmed the government would scrap proposed changes to disaster recovery funding that would have resulted in the Commonwealth reducing its contribution from 75 to 50 per cent.
In June, the Commonwealth announced plans to split disaster recovery funding 50-50 with states and territories.
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