STATEMENTS BY SENATORS

Senator McKENZIE (Victoria—Leader of the Nationals in the Senate) (13:51): This mandatory industry code was meant to protect Australians who prefer or need to use cash. It has done exactly the opposite. I call this retrograde legislation, the Albanese government's 'crush cash bill'.

On 18 November 2024, Treasurer Chalmers pledged that the cash mandate would cover 'essential items like petrol and groceries and at the pharmacy'. That promise has been broken. We know that for retailers the mandate will only apply to supermarkets and petrol stations, and that means that people will be able to pay cash for a packet of Allens snakes at Coles but not for Panadol at the pharmacy.

What else is missing? Clothing, water, sewerage, electricity and medical and dental services. And, yes, guess who—the government has exempted itself from accepting cash.

If you don't have a digital card, you can't pay cash to enter a government museum, a government art gallery or even this parliament. As senators know, you cannot purchase a coffee here in Parliament House using the legal tender of Australia. It's incredible.

The state protects itself it but effectively says, 'If you are not digitised, you are a second-class citizen.' Supermarkets need only one cash terminal. For 10 hours of every day, cash may be refused. If your town has no bank—the lived experience of so many of us in the regions—local businesses can still refuse your legal cash tender.

Under law, cash transactions are capped at just $500, and this is with more than a hundred billion dollars of cash circulating in the Australian economy. What's the real reason for the mandate? This government wants to disenfranchise everyday Australians.

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