Mr BILLSON (1:59 PM) —The big banks and the major retailers have decided to spin EFTPOS off into its own organisation. Many small businesses view EFTPOS services as a part of their normal banking services and have paid bank fees and charges to support that activity. The decision to spin it off and form a new company is understood—so that we have an Australian based bill payment system to compete with Visa and Mastercard. What is not acceptable, though, is if it results in a double-dip against small businesses in terms of their bank charges and fees. If the banks and the major retailers see it in their interests to spin off EFTPOS, then they should also make a commensurate reduction in banking fees and charges to small businesses. Otherwise, this would represent a new service with additional charges, while the big banks hang on to the revenue stream that used to finance EFTPOS as part of an integrated banking package. I call on the big banks to support the decision to spin off EFTPOS, with reductions in bank fees and charges for small businesses that have been paying those charges on the basis of EFTPOS services being bundled with the services they have been paying for for many years.

The SPEAKER —Order! It being 2 pm, the time for members’ statements has concluded.