JIM CHALMERS [TREASURER]: …Assistant Minister in the Government, including for Regional Development, and I’ll throw to him after I make some remarks – more efficiently than usual given we’ve got to get to the 50th birthday of the wonderful people here at Meals on Wheels at Logan Central. Mayor Raven as well will make some comments a bit later on too.

But two sets of announcements that we are making today. The first one is about card surcharges. We’ve stepped in to ensure that the Tax Office can take credit card payments until the end of June next year. This will give them the time to consult more with small business, and to get it right. This recognises the really important contribution that small businesses make to our local communities and to our economy more broadly. So we’ve stepped in here to provide the necessary funding to ensure that the ATO can continue to take credit card payments until the end of the financial year.

We take very seriously the feedback that the ATO and the Government have received when it comes to implementing this surcharge ban. Now, we try not to interfere with the RBA or the ATO when they go about designing and implementing this surcharge ban. But it’s really important that we have stepped in today to make it possible for the ATO to continue to take credit card payments until the end of the financial year. So that’s the first announcement.

The second announcement is about disaster funding. We will retain the existing 75/25 arrangements when it comes to responding to natural disasters. This is all about ensuring that the Commonwealth Government is providing certainty and providing funding when disaster hits.

We do take seriously all of the consultation that has happened between the Government, with local councils, and with other organisations to make sure that we get this right. I want to thank the councils that have engaged with us. I want to thank all the organisations who have been part of this consultation. And I pay tribute to Minister Kristy McBain, who has done a heap of this work.

Now, our goal here is to make sure that disaster funding can be faster, that it can be adequate, and that we get the funding where it’s needed as quickly as possible.

I also want to shout out Team Queensland in the Federal Parliament. The Federal Labor colleagues have been working very hard behind the scenes for this outcome that we are announcing today. We’ve got outstanding colleagues in the Federal Labor Caucus from Queensland. Every one of them has been working very hard to make sure that we get this right. I pay tribute in particular to our colleagues in the Far North, Matt Smith and Nita Green, who will be available for media a little bit later on. But really, right across Team Queensland in the Federal Labor Parliamentary Party, we have been working through these issues, consulting in a meaningful, in a genuine way to make sure that we get the right landing point.

There are a series of reforms here that Minister McBain will continue to work through. But we want to make it really clear, we have decided to retain the 75/25- or the up to 75/25 funding split as it exists right now. We are doing that to provide certainty to councils and others and communities in advance of disaster season here in Queensland so that people know what the lay of the land is when it comes to disaster funding.

Australians are there for each other when disasters hit, and the Government will be there for them as well. The Federal Labor Government is making sure with this announcement that we will be there for communities and for councils when disasters hit. I pay tribute to Minister McBain and all the Queensland colleagues who have been working through to get these outcomes.

We’re going to hear from Assistant Minister Chisholm and then we’ll take some questions.

ANTHONY CHISHOLM [ASSISTANT MINISTER]: Thanks, Jim. Real pleasure to be here this morning. And obviously, I wanted to talk about this announcement in regards to disaster funding. As Assistant Minister in the Albanese Government, I spend a lot of my time in regional areas talking to mayors and council. Unfortunately, some of those trips have been on the back of natural disasters that we’ve seen had an impact on communities. It brings out the best in mayors and councils and also the Queensland community, but we know that Queenslanders suffer from this more than most.

So I’m really pleased with this announcement today to ensure that those communities can go into disaster season knowing that the Albanese Government has their back. We have a proud record in terms of working with mayors and councils since our time in government, to ensure that we can help these communities recover as quickly as possible. I’m really pleased that that work will continue and that mayors and councillors can have confidence as we go into the disaster season, that that Federal Government support will continue to be there. 

I wanted to thank my Queensland colleagues in particular, the Team Queensland. We’ve been working hard on this. We’ve got great relationships with mayors and councils and communities throughout the state, and I’m really pleased that that’s going to continue and that we’re going to be there and support those communities. Whilst we hope we’re not impacted, we know in Queensland this year that there is a risk for that to happen again. And the Federal Government will be there, have your back, and to support these communities as we need to rebuild as well. So thanks Treasurer for being here.

JIM CHALMERS: Before I take a couple of questions can I just say, I’ve known Anthony most of my life. And for the whole time that we’ve been working together, he’s taken very seriously the immense contribution made by regional Queensland, and also engaged very enthusiastically with mayors and local councils right around Australia, right around Queensland, but particularly to the west of here and to the north of here. And so, I acknowledge the work that he’s done as well.        

And the final point that we would make is this. This is a government which has invested a lot of time and effort and money in improving the disaster management, disaster response arrangements in this country. We funded the Emergency Management Agency. We funded the stockpile, aerial firefighting, the alert system. And so we’ve shown, across the board and for some time now, a willingness to get these arrangements right. We know how harsh the Australian conditions can be. Australians are there for each other. The Albanese Labor Government will be there for them as well.