This coalition urgency motion is honestly pretty crap. It's so misleading. Thanks to the Albanese Labor government, Australians are no longer getting hit with surprise surcharges at the check-out when choosing to tap their card now that credit and debit card surcharging has ended. We've spoken a lot about this and so has the media. But what the coalition and the media have been awfully quiet on is that we've also lowered businesses' underlying costs for using the payment system itself. Alongside the removal of surcharging, we've lowered transaction fee caps and introduced new transparency requirements so that businesses have a clearer understanding of what they're paying. It means they can more easily compare providers and secure a better deal. These changes are expected to save small businesses approximately $910 million each year. To be clear, this isn't by shifting costs around; it's by reducing the cost of doing business.

This government has reduced the overhead costs for business. We've reduced the domestic interchange fee cap for debit cards from 0.2 per cent to 0.16 per cent and for consumer credit cards from 0.8 per cent to 0.3 per cent as a maximum, effective from 1 October 2026. That reduction means that card payments are cheaper for businesses to process. Business costs therefore go down under this policy, putting downward pressure on consumer prices. While advertised prices at merchants that currently surcharge may initially go up to cover their payment costs, consumer prices should end up being less overall as reduced payment costs for merchants flow through to lower prices. Sellers on plans where changes in most cost components flow through automatically, known as unblended plans, will automatically receive the benefit of lower interchange fees. The RBA estimates that 23 per cent of merchants are on this type of plan. For sellers on plans with a single advertised rate, known as single rate plans, several large providers have already announced reductions in pricing from 1 October. The RBA estimates that around 40 per cent of sellers are on this type of plan.

The major banks have already announced reductions in merchant fees. Westpac has cut fees by 41 basis points. The other major banks have cut by 10 to 15 basis points. Small businesses should talk to their service provider and see if they can now get a better deal. This is a real win for small businesses, lowering their overhead costs and putting downward pressure on the price they charge consumers. It's a win worth $910 million in savings to businesses and $1.6 billion each year in surcharge savings to consumers. That's a huge cashflow boost, almost $1 billion a year. It means small businesses will get a fairer deal from the big banks and payment providers. Eighty-four per cent of businesses didn't even surcharge before these changes. Those businesses are already benefiting from lower transaction fees.

That said, I recognise why some business owners remain sceptical and want to see those benefits materialise in practice. That's why, from 30 October 2026, payment service providers and card schemes will progressively be required to publish information about card payment fees and how reductions in interchange fees have flowed through to merchant service fees. The full reporting requirements will be in place from 1 April 2027. The new reporting arrangements are intended to provide greater visibility around where the lower interchange costs are flowing through to merchants, and the Reserve Bank will continue to monitor the implementation of the reforms.

While we're on the topic of fact-checking misinformation from the opposition, let's talk about the recent decision by the ATO to stop accepting credit card payments. What the coalition seems to ignore is that only around five per cent of small businesses use credit cards to make tax payments. We aren't talking about most small businesses; we're talking about five per cent. Regardless, this government is passionate about looking after small businesses, so we've stepped in to ensure that small businesses and other taxpayers have a longer transition period so that there's more time for the ATO to consult with small businesses. This will give them the time to get it right. I'm proud to be in a government that lowers the cost of doing business and isn't in the business of spreading misinformation to catch the seven o'clock news.