Alex Hawke (Mitchell, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister to the Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

Again, I reiterate in relation to these amendments that this bill is about excessive credit card surcharging, so this is not a debate about ATM fees. There may be a proper time and place to have that debate and that discussion. Certainly it is the government's view that banks need to make a profit. There needs to be competition in our economy and a competitive and well-regulated banking sector. That does not mean that we seek to run every single aspect of the banking sector and every single aspect of their business.

There are good arguments in relation to the cost of ATMs, and this is a great era we are in, where people can access their own capital in more ways than ever before, whether they be through payWave services, digitally online or through an ATM terminal. And of course we have to continue to innovate and exploit that era, but we are not running the banks, I have to say, to the member for Melbourne. We regulate to ensure that there are strong capital and liquidity requirements in Australia and that we have confidence in the banking sector, but we do not want to be day-to-day bankers and run every single aspect of their business. This is not a bill about the banks; this is a bill about excessive credit card surcharging, which has been identified by the Financial System Inquiry as a serious area of concern to most Australians that needs tackling. The government agrees that merchants should not be allowed to add unreasonable and excessive charges on top of credit cards for people to access credit.

This is a worthy bill so we seek your support. We seek for you to drop these amendments so we can get this through. And if you have serious concerns, have carefully analysed every aspect of ATMs and other fees and want to present a report, go ahead and do it. But I suspect you would not be able to tell us today exactly the cost structure of providing 15,000 ATMs around the country. I suspect you would not be able to tackle it today, so rather than waste this House's time with an endless debate about something which is not what this bill is about, simply support what is—I think you would agree—a very worthwhile measure and something the government is doing that you can support. You do not always have to rail against the machine, Member for Melbourne. When the government does something worthwhile you can get up and say, 'This is worthwhile.' The Labor Party is on board, and the opposition is on board. This is a worthwhile measure supported by the Financial System Inquiry, supported by the opposition and supported by the Australian public. You can get up and have a nice day with us and say, 'Thank you for what we're doing' and 'What a good bill,' and then we can have another debate, if you want to do so.

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