Treasurer Jim Chalmers has denied being undermined by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese after Albanese intervened to delay a controversial ban on credit card payments to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO). This intervention occurred just a day before the announcement of stopgap funding for the ATO.

Background

The government's handling of the ban on credit card payments for tax bills faced sustained criticism. In response, Chalmers announced new funding for the ATO to allow credit card payments to continue until the end of the financial year. Albanese revealed that he acted after discussions with Andrew McKellar, the head of the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI), earlier than previously known, leading to suggestions that he had undermined Chalmers.

Chalmers' Response

When asked if he had been rolled, Chalmers firmly denied that the Prime Minister had gone over his head. He stated, "If you just let me set it out for you, [the] prime minister and I were in discussions on Wednesday of last week. He had a view and I agree with it, that we needed to step in to provide this longer transition period to allow the ATO the time to get it right. We had the same view."