STATEMENTS BY MEMBERS

Mr CONAGHAN (Cowper) (13:45): October is Small Business Month, a time to celebrate and recognise the contributions that small businesses make to our communities and our economy, or at least it should be. But this tricky treasurer has chosen to turn it into an early Halloween without candy. Sorry, small business, no treats for you, only the fiscal equivalent of egging your shop windows and toilet papering the front door—an unsightly mess that you, through no fault of your own, now pay to clean up.

From the government that brought you stalking inflation, punitive taxes and ghoulish IR laws now comes the terrifying sequel 'Nightmare on Card Street'. From 1 October, the Treasurer declared that businesses are no longer able to pass on merchant fees charged by banks when their customers pay by card. But banks, of course, are still charging those fees.

So, small business, you're now forced to either absorb the cost in your ever-shrinking profit margins or increase your prices. That means prices go up for all your customers, even those paying cash. Just when you thought you could escape the fees, the Treasurer appears in the reflection behind you to make sure you can't.

These changes are a tax by stealth that will only force inflation higher while safeguarding the record profits of the major banks. For small-business owners, this is a nightmare they can't wake up from—a treasurer who ignores their screams and continues to tighten the screws.