Simon Birmingham transcript of interview on News24 with Kieran Gilbert

E&OE
TV Interview
Interview on News24 with Kieran Gilbert
11 September 2026

Topics: Mortgage fraud; card surcharging ban; immigration 

Kieran Gilbert: Let’s turn our attention now to one of the biggest financial crime syndicates in Australian history. I want to talk about the implications for our banking system with the CEO of the Banking Association, Simon Birmingham. Simon, thanks for your time. There’s been a lot of news around this week. I’m not sure everyone has caught up on this, but this is a huge development for your sector. What has been the response from your members? As I say, it is one of the biggest financial crime syndicates, which has been busted open by investigators.

Simon Birmingham: Thanks, Kieran and indeed, the charges and arrests that we’ve seen in relation to this execution of alleged mortgage fraud are very, very welcome. They show that the type of cooperation that exists between banks, AUSTRAC, Australia’s financial crime watchdog, and police is very, very strong, and that we are able to work effectively and there should be a big warning for criminals here. But equally, there is much more that can and is being done. The continuing work of the Fintel Alliance that sees banks and AUSTRAC work more closely together, share data, AUSTRAC’s additional powers that now enable them to look more closely over those in the sector, such as real estate agents and lawyers, the opportunity to ensure that companies’ registers are as tight and accurate as possible, and the work the government has started to look at enabling banks to get verification of their information, that it matches up with data the ATO holds, are all ways to really try to ensure our system becomes more fraud-proof, and also with some productivity benefits too.

Kieran Gilbert: We’re not talking about small change here. This ‘Penthouse Syndicate,’ as it was known, allegedly defrauding the big banks of around $500 million.

Simon Birmingham: Indeed, Kieran. Now, this is tied to mortgage fraud, and much of the analysis suggests that the properties themselves remain securitised, but of course the fraud is very, very serious. It often ties into aspects of other organised crime, money laundering, or the like and it shows that at a big scale, we absolutely need that vigilance against the growth of organised crime, be it what we see outside of our sector in things like the illicit tobacco space, equally in terms of this type of financial crime, often laundering money out of other sectors that may be illegal undertakings, or even organised criminal syndicates engaged in financial scams against many, many Australians and how we better protect ourselves against those, particularly by strengthening the barriers in relation to digital platforms and the promotion of things that often scam Australians.

Kieran Gilbert: Coming up October 1, another development in your sector, again, a lot of people with debit and credit cards might not be aware that the surcharges that we’ve paid for years are going to be banned?

Simon Birmingham: So, 20 years of surcharging and a growth that has come to really annoy many Australians. Most small businesses and most Australian businesses still don’t surcharge on credit card payments, but a proportion do. From the 1st of October, that will be banned. The Reserve Bank went through an extensive process looking at enabling the banning of those credit card surcharges. I’m sure it will be welcome for many consumers that what you are quoted on as the price, what you see on the menu, is what you should pay when you hand over the money, whether that be cash or tap your phone or your card. Importantly, small businesses need to be aware of that and should also know that the Reserve Bank took action that sees more than $600 million of bank interchange fees, as they’re known, being stripped out of the payment system. That means small businesses should be seeing changes to the fees that are there so they can end surcharging and for those who didn’t surcharge, they may even see a small net benefit.

Kieran Gilbert: And for the banks, is there an impact or any implication for the bottom line of the banks?

Simon Birmingham: Look, it’s not good news for banks in terms of the end of those interchange fees, or the reduction in the caps I should say, that are applied to those interchange fees. We expressed very clearly some worries that there’s a lack of regulatory equivalence there. We think there should be more transparency about the cut that Apple takes across the system, given many more people pay, of course, by tapping their phone and probably don’t realise that Apple takes a cut of that. We think there needs to be greater regulatory equivalence in terms of AMEX and their role in the system, and frankly, a look at the card schemes themselves, Visa and Mastercard. Again, transparency and consideration of equivalence as to how the Reserve Bank looks at their fee structures, not just the component that Australian banks take but as you’d note from many of those, they’re all different multinational players, and so their role in terms of fees also really ought to be considered alongside that of Australian banks.

Kieran Gilbert: Indeed, and let’s look at this immigration debate. Your Premier in South Australia, Peter Malinauskas making another intervention in this regard. He says your state needs workers, needs skilled migrants and migrants more broadly. What do you make of his intervention? Also, the Prime Minister seeking to win bipartisanship with Angus Taylor with some, let’s say, more low-key reforms through the federal parliament. Do you support some bipartisanship on that?

Simon Birmingham: Well, Kieran, I was in Sydney and happened to be at the Sydney Institute dinner that Premier Malinauskas spoke at. I thought it was a very impactful speech, and hopefully a consequential one. Hopefully, it is consequential in terms of focusing minds back on the cost of the immigration debate if we see cuts that are without proper analysis and consideration.

In the end, cutting immigration deeply in Australia, particularly skilled immigration, would be bad for our economy and bad ultimately for the fiscal balance of our budgets now and into the future. Bringing young, skilled, taxpaying workers into our country has always been good for our budget and always been good for our economic growth across the country. Of course, there are issues that need to be addressed in housing and infrastructure and governments need to take responsibility for that. But I think we’ve got to be very, very clear as a nation that our economic future depends on many parts of the productivity puzzle, and population and having a strong working-age population, is a very key part of that. So, the contributions by Premier Malinauskas, I think, were important, welcome, if they help to align bipartisanship that can provide greater certainty and avoid politicking in this space from the parties of government, the traditional parties of government, then that would be very welcome.

Kieran Gilbert: Indeed. Well, let’s see if that unfolds. Simon, thank you.

Ends

Regulation & Policy