Colourful Queensland Senator Bob Katter has created a national furore by insisting a cafe inside Parliament House in Canberra has broken the law by refusing to take cash. 

Anthony Reale

In an era when trust in government and trust in banks is approaching zero, Katter’s claims struck a chord with the general public and the nation’s small businesses, while creating a dispute among academics over the validity of his claim. 

The incident occurred when Katter told the Parliament House cafe’s staff member that she had to take his $50 or she was breaking the law.

“If you have a cashless society, the banks control your life,” the Senator claimed. “You're not able to buy a loaf of bread without permission from the bank. It is bad enough now but it will be infinitely worse.

"If you have a cashless society, you're in big trouble. If electricity goes off, you've got no ability to buy anything.”

The Senator’s controversial stand found a sympathetic ear in Shellharbour cafe owner Anthony Reale, just one of the many business owners bucking the trend and asking his customers to pay cash if they can. 

His cafe, Village Fix, established in 2015, led the way in transforming Shellharbour from a lost in time surfing village to the bustling cafe precinct it is now in the process of becoming. 

Signs at his cafe read: 

“Cash preferred, Card Accept. Cash will work: When the internet is down, When there is a power outage, When the card reader malfunctions, When your phone battery dies. CASH IS KING. Use it or lose it.”

And

“Please pay cash if you can. Why? To avoid bank fees, To keep cash alive, Support local businesses, rather than banks.”

Mr Reale explains his stance like this. If you pay for something with a $50 note, and that person pays someone else using the same $50, and so on, after ten transactions that $50 note is still worth $50. But if you pay with a card, every single transaction attracts a fee, and it’s not that long before most of that $50 value has been transferred to the bank.

“Why does this government want to give power to the banks and not to the people?” he asks. “The push to a digital currency is all about control. Banks are making money left right and centre, holding it, charging interest, and charging consumers.It is take take take and you get nothing back. The government is pushing an agenda which makes banks more and more money.”

Cash is no longer available over the counter at some Commonwealth branches in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. From May of this year Macquarie Bank customers will no longer be able to deposit cash or cheques at any of their branches.

From November of this year NAB customers will no longer be able to make cash or cheque deposits at the bank’s branches. BankWest, with its 1.1 million customers, has also announced plans to go almost solely digital.

In December 7-Eleven announced they will begin phasing out ATMs across 762 stores nationally, making it harder for Australians to obtain cash.

Leading alternative media site TOTT News has been following the push into a digital currency closely over the past several years. 

“The removal of cash is just a large piece in an even bigger puzzle,” it reports. “The ‘Big 4’ banks in Australia are already following in suit with the Reserve Bank’s push to soon introduce Central Bank Digital Currencies, with pilots currently being tested in the industry.

“The number of branches has plunged from 3,588, down from 5,694.

“Australia has 5,693 ATMs still in existence – less than half the 13,814 level of June 2017.

“People-power is always the best form of resistance against the corporate consumer market. Vote with your pockets.”