Ellie Whiteaker (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Deputy President. I'm happy to explain why this is relevant. The party at Gina Rinehart's Palm Beach mansion sounds like a blast. It's not exactly my cup of tea, but it sounds like what ordinary Aussie battlers are doing on the weekend—jumping on Gina's private jet and heading to the US. One Nation is the party that claims that it's fighting for the 'forgotten Australians', but I think they actually mean 'forgetful Australians'—you know, those ordinary battlers who forget that they travelled on a private jet. I speak to those Western Australians all the time in my home state! Who hasn't forgotten to declare a free trip to Florida on a private jet? It happens all the time—a totally easy mistake to make.

Senator Roberts said in his contribution that he believes all Australians should live a life of wealth and prosperity. He wants to make sure that every Australian can use cash when they need to. But that's not true. In fact—and I'll use one of the words that Senator Roberts used earlier in his contribution—it's a lie. It is not true. But that's One Nation in a nutshell: talk up the battler, fly with the billionaires.

If Senator Roberts wants to talk about cash so much, why doesn't he want Australians to have any? Why have One Nation stood in the way of every single cost-of-living measure that our government has delivered? Why have One Nation stood in the way of every effort our government has taken to increase wages for ordinary working Australians? That's the real work that Australians want their government to do, not spread lies and misinformation in an attempt to distract from what One Nation senators are actually spending their time doing: pretending that they stand up for the battlers while flying with billionaires.

While they waste time in this chamber on conspiracy and clickbait, they're trying to get rid of the only real protection that Australians have to use cash for the things that they need. Let's be honest, that is what this disallowance would do. It would take away the only protection that Australians have to use cash. What would ordinary Australian battlers have to say about that? Senator Roberts talks about some weird digital money that doesn't exist, but he's stopping people from being able to use the cash they actually have in their wallets. Make it make sense! Right now, tonight, in this chamber, Senator Roberts and One Nation are moving to take away the only guarantee that Australians have to use cash for the essentials. It's not protecting cash. It's not standing up for ordinary Australians.

This is part of a pattern of behaviour by One Nation. They are not actually committed to taking action on cost of living. They are not actually committed to standing up for ordinary Australians. They pretend that's what they care about, and then they come into this place and they try to take away the protections that Australians rely on. They try to stand in the way of our actions on cost of living. But we will continue to call them out, because Australians deserve better than what One Nation are offering.

One Nation love to talk about protecting your freedom, but actually they are trying to take away your ability to use the money that you have in your wallet. Well, I tell you what, Senator Roberts, that ain't freedom. It's a complete contradiction. If you're serious about protecting cash then you should support the only mandate—the mandate that this government introduced on 1 January this year—to protect that. But if you continue with this disallowance, you are taking away the ability of Australians to use cash. You should be upfront and honest about that. When you say that you stand up for everyday Australians, they expect you to do just that.

But when the chips are down, when there are headlines to chase and clicks to get, One Nation go behind Australians backs. They'll say one thing in the street and do the opposite in the chamber. But we should be honest about who they are really standing up for. This is a party that pretends they care about ordinary Australians, but they are cosying up to billionaires and their powerful interests when it suits them. That is their record—not delivery, not outcomes, just outrage.

Tonight they are trying to take away the simple cash guarantee that Australians rely on. All Australians should be able to walk into a shop, pull out a pineapple and pay for the basics. That's what Labor believe, and that is what we have delivered. That is what Senator Roberts and One Nation are trying to take away from Australians in this chamber tonight. And I really hope the opposition, the Liberals and the Nationals, don't use this as an opportunity to continue to cosy up with One Nation like we saw in recent weeks in South Australia, where they cosied up and did a nice little preference deal—it didn't work out so well for the Liberals in South Australia, did it? I hope they have learnt their lesson. But I suspect that I might be sorely disappointed and that we might see One Nation and the Liberals and the Nationals cosying up again to take away the things that Australians rely on.

I want to talk a little bit about why we introduced this mandate and why it's so important. Labor introduced this mandate on 1 January 2026. It means that most fuel stations and grocery stores have to accept cash for in-person transactions of up to $500 between 7 am and 9 pm. Before this mandate there was no obligation on businesses to accept cash in Australia, and now there is—unless, of course, this disallowance motion passes the Senate, in which case Australians will no longer have that protection. That's what Senator Roberts and One Nation are asking us to do tonight, to take away the ability of Australians to use cash.

One Nation talked a little bit about locals being able to pay their bills, and I think that's really important because we know that most utility providers don't actually have retail shopfronts. There are more than 4,000 post offices around the country—more than 2½ thousand of those in rural and remote areas, areas that Senator Roberts likes to pretend he cares about—and so Australians are able to make cash payments at those outlets. This approach, our approach, has been supported by stakeholders. COTA Australia, representing older Australians, says:

Mandating businesses to accept cash for essential goods is sensible reform that will protect older Australians and others who rely on cash from being locked out of everyday life …

Sounds pretty good to me, but, as we've come to expect from One Nation, their arguments are light on detail and far from reality. I said earlier, but I'll say it again because it's a really good line: are they living on another planet or are they just spending too much time in Gina Rinehart's private jet?

What I would like to see from Senator Roberts and One Nation is for them to be upfront with Australians about what they are actually doing here tonight and what they're asking senators in this chamber to do, which is to say to Australians, 'Look, Labor introduced this mandate to make sure that you are able to pay cash for the things that you need, but what we are trying to do, what One Nation is trying to do'—and what I hope that the Liberals and Nationals don't do—'is vote to take that capacity away.' If this chamber votes in favour of this disallowance motion tonight, that is what will happen, and Senator Roberts and One Nation should be honest about that. They should be honest to the around one in 10 Australians that the RBA found use cash for the majority of their in-person purchases. They should be upfront with us about what it is they are trying to do.

What's the coalition's record on regional banking? Between 2017 and 2022, the number of regional bank branches across Australia fell by 29 per cent—that's 700 regional bank branches that closed on their watch. What has Labor done about that? Since we came to office, we've negotiated a moratorium on branch closures for 2½ years to ensure that there are no regional branch bank closures by the major banks before 31 July 2027. We've secured investments in Bank@Post, which has over 3,350 locations across the country, and we've delivered the cash acceptance mandate, guaranteeing, for the first time, that all Australians can use cash for their fuel, groceries and essential services. That's the mandate that Senator Roberts wants to take away from Australians tonight.

Our support for regional banking for Australians who want to use cash is having a real impact in communities across Australia. Under the Liberals, when they were in government, we saw nearly a third of regional bank branches close. It's only Labor that has done the work to make sure that those banks continue to operate.

We know there's more work to do, and we are absolutely committed to doing it. We know that local banking services are important to Australians, and we are committed to keeping those banks open. My message to Senator Roberts and One Nation tonight is, if you're serious about protecting cash, then you should withdraw this disallowance motion. My call to other senators in this chamber is not to vote in support of this motion, because what it will do is take away the only protection that Australians have right now to pay cash for the essential services that they need, and that would be an absolute outrage.