DEBIT CARD SURCHARGE BAN
Surcharges for using debit cards could be banned in the future as the federal government attempts to find ways to ease the financial pressures felt by Australians in the lead-up to the next election.
The Australian Financial Review, which has led with this news overnight, says the Albanese government will today set out its plans, as well as announcing over $2 million in extra funding for the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to target businesses charging excessive fees. The paper points out the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) will also launch a review of payment costs for retailers later today.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers is quoted as saying last night: “Consumers shouldn’t be punished for using cards or digital payments, and at the same time, small businesses shouldn’t have to pay hefty fees just to get paid themselves.” However, the ABC points out any changes would not take effect until January 2026 and are subject to further reviews by the RBA.
Guardian Australia says credit card fees would still apply and the ban on debit card charges would bring Australia in line with the UK and parts of Europe. The AFR says shoppers are burdened with around $1.5 billion annually of debit and credit card surcharges and the proposed ban “would squeeze many retailers, who have been passing on costs charged by card companies and banks to shoppers”.
The AFR quotes Prime Minister Anthony Albanese as saying of the proposals: “My government’s number one priority is to ease the cost of living for households and businesses, and this is another step to protect Australians.” Meanwhile, The Sydney Morning Herald claims any ban would be a “significant move” as the RBA has previously used competition among retailers and providers to bring down fees for consumers, but the central bank has already said “further regulatory intervention” could be needed to control fees.
Also high up in its coverage overnight, the SMH flags Immigration Minister Tony Burke will now “sign off on every Gazan refugee granted a new humanitarian visa”. The SMH says those fleeing Gaza will need to be personally invited by Burke to apply for a three-year visa to stay in Australia with permanent residency not currently offered.
Rather than automatically offering temporary humanitarian visas to the estimated 1,500 Palestinians in Australia, the government will instead issue the visas on a case-by-case basis, the paper says, adding the Department of Home Affairs “quietly” opened expressions of interest for Palestinians late last week.
KING CHARLES ‘SNUB’
The BBC has (probably unsurprisingly) jumped on the reporting from the likes of the Sunday Herald Sun which highlighted that none of the state premiers will welcome King Charles III at a reception in Canberra next Monday.
The broadcaster and Politico are keen to quote Australian Monarchists League Victorian spokesperson Bev McArthur, who called the premiers’ decisions (all for different reasons) an “embarrassing” snub and a “slap in the face” to the royal family. The BBC points out all states will have representatives present at the event while the UK tabloid The Mirror’s front page on Monday screamed: “Royal storm Down Under: Not a g’day for Charles”.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will be at said Canberra reception and yesterday was doing his bit to draw attention to a more pressing issue this month — the Queensland state election. Early voting in the election opened yesterday and Albanese held a joint press conference in the Gold Coast with Labor Premier Steven Miles on Monday, during which he said he supported the premier’s stance on nuclear power, Guardian Australia reports.
At the start of the week, the site published an interview with Miles in which he revealed he would hold a plebiscite on nuclear power if Labor wins the election. Responding on Monday, Albanese said: “What I certainly hope occurs is that Steve Miles is elected premier of Queensland. That’s what I want to see happen, because that’s a way of making sure that this nuclear fantasy [is stopped].” Miles admitted he had not mentioned to the prime minister his plebiscite plan before going public with it.
Guardian Australia reports opposition LNP leader David Crisafulli would not say if he supported a plebiscite, instead calling Miles’ comments “divisive”. “We have an energy plan, and we will be rolling out that energy plan, and it doesn’t involve nuclear,” he said. The site added he also dodged questions on his opposition to nuclear power stations proposed in the state, and nationwide, by federal Opposition Leader Peter Dutton.
While in Queensland, Albanese was asked about the anniversary of Australia voting down a proposal to enshrine an Indigenous Voice to Parliament in the constitution. The Australian and the AFR featured his responses high up in their coverage overnight. The former said the PM “expressed no regret for holding the failed voice referendum” and highlighted Albanese having a go at Dutton for backing away from a suggestion of a second referendum on constitutional recognition.
ON A LIGHTER NOTE…
One of the world’s longest treasure hunts appears to be over.
The BBC reports a buried statuette of a golden owl was finally unearthed in France earlier this month after 31 years of hunting.
French artist Michel Becker posted online: “We confirm that the replica of the golden owl was unearthed during the course of last night, and a solution simultaneously submitted.”
Becker illustrated Sur la Trace de la Chouette d’Or (On the Trail of the Golden Owl), a picture book by Max Valentin in 1993. He also sculpted the gold and silver owl that awaited whoever could solve 11 mysterious riddles.
The Guardian said tens of thousands of people had taken part in the treasure hunt and such was its popularity it was even cited in divorce proceedings. The paper noted the finder of the prize owl is entitled to exchange it for Becker’s original, which at the time of the book’s writing was said to be worth one million francs — equivalent today to €300,000 (A$490,000).
To claim the prize a treasurer hunter had to prove they had been led to the replica’s burial place by solving each of the 11 clues rather than other means, such as using a metal detector.
Say What?
The Australian government has serious concerns the security situation in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories could deteriorate rapidly. Today, we have upgraded Australia’s travel advice to Do Not Travel. This means you should leave now if it is safe to do so.
Penny Wong
The foreign minister announced the updated travel advice on X on Monday.
CRIKEY RECAP
One year has passed since the proposal to establish an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice to Parliament was voted down in a referendum. Since that campaign ended, Indigenous affairs have been a far less prominent issue in the media and in politics.
One First Nations leader Crikey spoke to said there had been virtually no progress since on closing the gap of Indigenous disadvantage, while others pointed to limited improvements.
Uluru Dialogue senior leader and Wiradjuri man Geoff Scott told Crikey he was disappointed with the progress in the past 12 months.
Crikey has covered the many potential issues with the various implementations of this policy. But even before you can consider those issues, there’s one aspect of the policy discussion that’s making it difficult to even have an honest conversation about the pros and cons.
Limiting teens from using social media requires being able to figure out the age of every social media user. Understandably, most of the focus has been on young Australians, but the ramification of this policy goes further.
What the government is proposing is a national social media age verification scheme. Or, to put it plainly, every Australian is going to have to prove their age when they go online in a way that they never have before. Maybe it’s by showing government ID, a credit card, or some other way — whatever the method, it’s a bump that’s going to be felt by each of us.
Johnson casts himself as a “kind of matchmaker” in setting up AUKUS, with his “most important job” at the summit being a discreet meeting between himself, Morrison and US President Joe Biden — all “without being rumbled by the French”.
On the deal itself, Johnson says it was never meant to be directly anti-Chinese (he is a self-proclaimed Sinophile) nor “anti-anyone”. It is more than building submarines together; it is “strengthening the West,” he says. “It is about collaboration in hypersonics, AI, quantum”. (For reference, Morrison, in his memoir, frames it as Australia’s great stand against China’s bullying.
Despite the deal sending the French government into a “raucous squawkus from the anti-Aukus caucus”, Johnson leaves the whole affair with the sentiment he was in “a pretty good mood” after his meeting in a “sultry plywood hutch, looking out over the sea”. He asserts the deal could not have happened without Brexit.
READ ALL ABOUT IT
Foxtel’s top cricket executive departs after investigation into social media usage (The Sydney Morning Herald)
Aussie investors roped into British PM Starmer’s pitch to big business (AFR)
Nobel economics prize awarded for studies of prosperity gaps between countries (The Washington Post)
Israeli attacks on UN forces in Lebanon must stop, say UK, Italy, France and Germany (The Guardian)
Elon Musk accused of copying designs by I, Robot director (BBC)
NASA launches Europa Clipper to explore an ocean moon’s habitability (The New York Times) ($)
THE COMMENTARIAT
Labor wants multinationals to reveal their worldwide income for tax purposes. That plan is under attack — Paul Karp (Guardian Australia): The Coalition wants to water down the bill; the Greens want to toughen it.
There isn’t much time left in this Parliament. It may be one of those rare instances in which the Coalition or Greens will have to decide it isn’t worth insisting they have it all their own way.
Otherwise Australia’s world-leading tax transparency scheme may end world-following, just as some companies would prefer it.
Not being Trump won’t win Harris the election. She needs to do more – pronto — Maureen Dowd (The Sydney Morning Herald): Other Democratic strategists I talked to agreed that Harris needs to let her guard down, cut loose and turn on the afterburners. Mainly, her pitch is that she’s not Trump. And that’s an excellent pitch. But she needs to make the case for herself more assertively.
It’s hard to understand why she didn’t sit down with a yellow pad or laptop long ago and decide why she wanted to be president, what her top priorities would be and how she would get that stuff done. The Vision Thing. Even when getting softballs from supportive TV hosts, Harris at times seemed unsure of how to answer.
She didn’t learn to tack to the centre in bright blue California. When asked on The View whether she would have done anything different than President Joe Biden, she said, “There is not a thing that comes to mind” — a flub if you want to convey change.
