Sylvia Jeffreys, Host: I'm joined this morning by Foreign Minister Penny Wong in Adelaide. Minister, good morning and thanks for your time. Mixed messages from your colleagues this week. Andrew Charlton first said he backs the ATO. Clare O'Neil told us yesterday on this program the Government has some real concerns over the issue. So, can you clarify this morning what is the Government's stance on the ATO's ban on credit card payments?
Penny Wong, Foreign Minister: Good morning and good to be with you. And can I start with why we have done this? We've done this because credit card surcharges were imposed on Australian consumers. They often weren't transparent and they often weren't consistent. And so these reforms were about making sure that we didn't have hidden charges that consumers didn’t know about and that were added to the things they were buying. Now, in terms of the ATO, I'd make two points. They are independent. Governments can't direct the Tax Office to implement tax in a certain way. What we can do is say to them, you should be consulting with small business. And we would really encourage the ATO to engage with small business about this. I know that only a small proportion of small businesses were using credit cards for this, but obviously it is a change -
Jeffreys: Sorry to interrupt. It's a quarter of a million small businesses who are impacted by this. They say, some of them say, it will cripple them. It's the final straw. What is the Government's stance on whether or not the ATO should reverse this decision? Would you like to see it reversed?
Foreign Minster: What I'd like to see is this be resolved between the ATO and small business representatives. So, that's the negotiation, the engagement, the consultations that we want to see. But I again would make the point. The reason this occurred, the reason we did this, is because Australian consumers were paying a whole range of surcharges which weren't transparent to them.
Jeffreys: Okay, I understand the intention of the move, but the results are clearly very different. And the problem is the ATO did consult with small businesses, 20 small business groups this week. Those small businesses say it was a complete waste of time because the ATO doubled down on it. So, what comes next? There are accusations of double standards here because you've asked small businesses to absorb the change. But you won't ask the ATO to absorb this change, will you ask the ATO to absorb the change?
Foreign Minster: As I said to you, they are independent. But what we do want to see is this resolved. I'd make the point. A small proportion of small businesses have relied on credit cards to pay their tax. Obviously, this is a change and we want the ATO to work through this with business.
Jeffreys: Okay, what about local councils? They say they'll now be forced to ban credit card payments, should they also absorb these changes?
Foreign Minster: Again, ultimately, these are decisions for local councils in terms of how they want to process their fees. The vast majority of credit card transactions in this country, though, are not ATO and are not local government. They're when you go and buy a cup of coffee or when you go and buy your kids a toasted sandwich. And the point is, when you've got a cost-of-living crunch and that's what we do have, it is the right thing to do to try and take those costs out of the system and make them more transparent. And that's what these reforms are all about.
Jeffreys: All right, let's get on to the other topic. Today you're also launching a new campaign to ensure young Aussies are better informed ahead of overseas travel. What can you tell us?
Foreign Minster: When we wave our children off at the airport, every parent waves their kid off at the airport hoping they have a good time, but of course, praying that they will come home safely. And what we want to do is to arm young Australians who are travelling overseas, particularly as we enter Schoolies time, with more information about how to keep themselves safe. So, we're launching TravelSmarts, which is associated with our Smartraveller website. And what that does is takes young people through real-life scenarios so they can make sure they know how to make smart choices, particularly overseas. How they keep themselves safe, how they look after each other, talk about things like the risk of methanol poisoning and drink spiking and what people can best do to try and keep themselves safe.
Jeffreys: Okay. Foreign Minister Penny Wong, thanks for joining us this morning.
Foreign Minster: Good to be with you.