Media Release

KENNEDY MP, Bob Katter said ‘big brother’ was getting more and more powerful after a Senate inquiry recommended a Bill banning cash payments over $10,000.

“This would be absolutely disastrous for the Senate to pass this at a time when people are trying desperately to get their money out of the banks and financial institutions,” said Mr Katter.

“If this passes and you want to get your money out of the banks you simply won’t be able to.”

Mr Katter said the Bill would have dire implications for small businesses during natural disasters when people are unable to use Eftpos due to power and internet outages.

“If you are running even a very small business, $10,000 a week is not an unreasonable figure. During Cyclone Larry Eftpos was down for more than a week,” Mr Katter said.

“It is extraordinary that the Government would consider such an intrusion and destruction of basic human rights and privacy.

“The Parliament has sold the entire nation off to foreign corporations, they’ve bankrupted agriculture and now this is the next step.

“In China there is one CCTV camera for every three people and they are now incorporating facial recognition. In Australia the only people who have guns are the people in uniforms.

“In the famous novels A Brave New World and 1984 they had two way cameras in every household. Well, now we aren’t too far off from that.”

Queensland Katter MP, Nick Dametto said the limit on cash payments would be another assault on Australians’ freedom to be able to conduct legitimate business in a manner of their own choosing.\

“This has been sold to us as a way for the Federal Government to control tax evasion but in reality all it does is give way to more control from the major banking corporations,” said the Member for Hinchinbrook.

“Australian currency is owned by the people, not the banks, and it should not be up to the Federal Government to decide how you spend it.”