Katter says keeping cash is everyone's business
KENNEDY Federal MP Bob Katter has applauded the Government’s announcement to mandate cash, which means businesses will be legally required to accept cash and coins when selling essential goods, including fuel and groceries.
At a press conference in Canberra today, Mr Katter was flanked by crossbench colleague and Member for Mayo, Rebekha Sharkie, as well as National Seniors Australia CEO Chris Grice, where they unanimously praised the decision.
“Some people out there think they don’t care but I wonder if they’ve thought about what is truly at stake here,” Mr Katter said.
“Once you give the banks the power, I hope you don’t believe they’ll be willing to give it back.
“Keeping cash in circulation as legal tender is everyone’s business. Whether it impacts you now or in the future, the banks want to take away your choice and your freedoms.”
Mr Katter’s experience made headlines across Australia earlier this year when he attempted to pay for his lunch at Parliament House and was told they wouldn’t accept cash.
“You know I’ve been in parliament for 50 years and starting the big fracas over the use of cash may be my most major achievement so far.”
“The altercation that started this national debate – well, they wouldn’t take the cash, and I said, “you have to, it’s legal tender”.
“Milton Dick (Speaker of the House) came down and very assertively and very appropriately ordered them to go and get the change so that there would be cash there. God bless Milton Dick in this case."
When asked if this proposed mandate goes far enough, Mr Katter replied, “There should be no exceptions. Everyone should be required to accept cash.
“This is even worse than being controlled by the government; at least they’re democratically elected people. This is about being controlled by shadowy figures in office blocks in Sydney and Melbourne – the bankers.
“The Liberals better be on side with this because if they’re not, they establish themselves as the handmaidens of the powerful shadowy people that run Australia.
“Do you want a society run by the bankers? I know I certainly don’t.
“Banks can be a wonderful instrument for growth, enlightenment and kindness or they can be a dreadful machine of oppression.
“We are heading into storm season in north Queensland; residents of the Kennedy electorate that I represent are well aware of the need to have cash on hand in the event of a disaster. When a cyclone knocks out the power, it could be days before you can use EFTPOS or an ATM.
“This issue is not just limited to regional areas – you know the lights are going out more regularly in the city now than the country! You lose the lights, lose your money and you’ll just have to go hungry unless the power comes back on.
“This issue is about more than convenience, more than the here and now; it’s about whether our society is run and controlled by the banks or run and controlled by the people of Australia.
“A cashless society will eventuate in George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four on steroids and we’ve all got to fight it.
“Henry Lawson’s “The City Bushman” is an iconic poem in Australian history. One of the stanzas concludes by saying:
‘Droving songs are very pretty, but they merit little thanks
From the people of a country in possession of the Banks.’
“It’s a very bitter poem, but it’s very accurate.
“The banks will not have the power. The people will have the power. And that means that cash must be legal tender.”
ENDS
