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Sky News AU
34 minutes ago
- Sky News AU
Australians have ‘had enough' of Labor's out of reach green targets
Nationals Senator Matt Canavan joined Sky News Australia to discuss the Chamber of Commerce pitch, raising concerns over Labor's out-of-reach target. 'Rather than focus on the target ahead of them in 2030, which they are not going to meet, they're now going to set an even greater and bigger target that they are not going to be around for in 2035 or 40,' Mr Canavan said 'I hope the Australian people are seeing through this because this net zero obsession is the principal reason why productivity is in the slumps, it's clearly the reason why electricity prices have risen 31 per cent since we signed up to net zero and gas prices have risen 39 per cent, that's on top of an already major increases over the past couple of decades as we obsessed about this green energy scam. 'The Australian people, they've had enough of paying high bills, high electricity bills, it's flowing through to food prices now, the cost of everything is going up, why don't we focus on using our energy resources again why don't we focus on a target of reducing the cost of living in Australia before we focus on a target of reducing astray emissions which are barely anything of global emissions in any case.'
West Australian
an hour ago
- West Australian
‘Time has come': Reserve Bank of Australia flags blanket ban on all debit and credit card surcharging
The Reserve Bank has flagged an end to a bugbear of almost every Australian shopper — debt and credit card surcharge fees. A consultation paper released by the nation's central bank on Tuesday proposes banning surcharging on eftpos, Mastercard and Visa cards, which currently cost consumers about $1.2 billion a year. A review of merchant card payment costs and surcharging found it was no longer achieving its intended purpose of steering consumers to make more efficient payment choices. The RBA found avoiding surcharges had become harder as consumers embraced card and digital payment methods over cash. It also revealed businesses were increasingly charging the same surcharge rate across debit and credit and there were significant challenges with enforcing the current surcharging rules. 'Removing surcharging would make card payments simpler, more transparent and help to increase competition in the card payments system,' the RBA's payments system board said. Shoppers have long complained of card surcharges, arguing there is little transparency on how the fees are applied. The RBA said it was also currently too hard for businesses to shop around for better deals. The bank's issue paper, released in October, found retailers were paying more than $6.4b a year to banks, payment platforms and card companies such as Visa and Mastercard to process card payments. The RBA's flagged changes would go a step further than the Federal Government's initial ban on fees for debit transactions and would bring the Australian payment market into line with the rest of the world. RBA governor Michele Bullock said the payment landscape was always evolving, and it was important to keep pace and ensure Australia remained safe, competitive and efficient. 'We think the time has come to address some of these high costs and inefficiencies in the system,' Ms Bullock said. 'This could save consumers $1.2b annually, simplify payments and boost competition.' The RBA has acknowledged any savings for customers would require businesses to absorb the costs. If businesses instead lifted prices, it could add about 0.1 per cent to inflation. 'Merchants that surcharge debit card payments would be faced with a choice of increasing their prices or absorbing their debit payment costs through reduced margins,' the RBA said. Under the propose changes, card networks and banks would also be forced to publish the fees they charge. The RBA said improving transparency and competition would 'help all players better understand the fees they are charged and make it easier for businesses to shop around for a better deal'. In a blow for the major banks, the RBA also wants to lower interchange fees paid by businesses. These are wholesale fees a merchant's bank pays to a cardholder's bank, and are set by card networks like Mastercard and Visa. The RBA said the interchange fees paid by businesses to card providers are too high, especially for small businesses. 'Around 90 per cent of Australian businesses are estimated to be better off under the proposed policies,' the RBA said. 'The proposed reductions to interchange caps would benefit small businesses the most, as they tend to pay fees closer to the existing caps. 'Introducing caps on foreign interchange fees would help to lower fees for all businesses accepting international cards.' Public feedback on the proposals run until August 26, with a timeline for the changes due to be announced by the end of the year.
7NEWS
an hour ago
- 7NEWS
Businesses could be banned from charging debit and credit card fees in a move that will save Australians $1.2 billion
Australia's central bank wants to remove surcharge fees on both debit and credit cards in a move it expects would save consumers more than $1 billion. The Reserve Bank of Australia's review of merchant card payment costs recommends the fees be scrapped on EFTPOS, Mastercard and Visa card transactions as they don't help consumers make more efficient payment choices. Lowering the cap on interchange fees paid by businesses — another recommendation of the paper — as well would save Australian $1.2 billion. An interchange fee is paid by a business to a customer's card issuer when a transaction occurs. The bank's proposals go further than what the federal government has previously suggested. Treasurer Jim Chalmers had said the government was prepared to ban fees on debit card transactions from the start of 2026, but the RBA has included credit cards. Consumers are estimated to pay $1.2 billion in surcharges on payments each year, the equivalent of $60 per card-using adult. Scrapping surcharges would also mean consumers don't need to switch between payment methods to try and avoid a fee, the report stated. RBA Governor Michele Bullock said both consumers and businesses benefited from the proposal as fewer Australians make cash payments. Customers would avoid paying surcharges, while businesses would no longer be forced to face high costs of accepting card payments. 'We think the time has come to address some of these high costs and inefficiencies in the system,' she said. 'The payments landscape is always evolving, and it's critically important that we keep pace to ensure it remains safe, competitive and efficient.' The RBA proposed removing its own prohibition on 'no-surcharge' rules to achieve scrapping the fees. It expected the card networks would then follow by implementing 'no-surcharge' rules based on historical experience and arrangements in other jurisdictions. If that did not occur, the RBA would recommend the federal government legislate to ban surcharge fees. Lowering the cap on interchange fees by businesses is predicted to benefit small businesses the most, because they often pay higher fees. The central bank found small businesses would be $185 million better off under the changes, with 90 per cent of them benefiting. Better transparency achieved by forcing card networks and large acquirers to publish what fees they are charging has also been recommended, in a bid for better competition between the networks. Bullock predicted the proposals would spark much discussion particularly among businesses that do surcharge, prompting a six-week consultation period on their plan. Any changes won't kick in until July 2026.
