A family in Tasmania who owns a small business—a restaurant business named Stelo, at Launceston, that makes house-made pasta using Tasmanian produce—is losing sleep at night right now, and that's because they are staring down the barrel of closing down their business, due to not being able to use their credit card to pay the ATO. They're a seasonal business. There are plenty of seasonal businesses, not just in Tasmania but across the country, and the way that many of these seasonal businesses operate is that, during the quieter months, during the cooler months, they pay their tax by credit card, and then, in the warmer months, in the busier months, they can pay off their credit card and pay their tax out of their own pocket, and so the cycle goes on. This family is a dad, who's a head chef, a mum who is in charge of front-of-house at the restaurant, and three kids in primary school.

This is just one example of families who are looking at closing their businesses by this time next year as a result of not being able to pay their tax—as a result of not being able to pay their debts as and when they fall due—if the ATO sees its promise through and stops accepting credit card payments for tax from 1 July 2027. Then this Labor government will have been complicit in the closure of small seasonal hospitality and tourism businesses across this country.