Slade Brockman (WA, Deputy-President) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on this disallowance motion. The coalition will be supporting this motion, and I will explain why. We just saw from Senator Whiteaker how unseriously the government takes this issue, and it is a serious issue. It is a serious issue of economic freedom. It is a serious issue that other countries are taking very important notice of.

I want to go through what some other countries have actually done in this space. Let's not try and paint these countries as radical, right-wing nut-job countries. How about Norway, which has a strict law requiring merchants to accept cash, particularly for in-person services? Denmark—another very right-wing country, I hear—maintains that most shops and businesses accept cash payments. Spain mandates that businesses must accept cash transactions for up to 1,000 euros. France has strict regulations in place requiring the acceptance of cash for all retail transactions. Hungary and Slovakia—have in place these kinds of mandates because they realise that cash is integral to sovereignty and is integral to individuals' economic freedom. What we have from the Labor Party is a deal done behind closed doors with no transparency, no consultation. They've completely failed to respond to the regional banking inquiry, which delivered its recommendation 660 days ago, an inquiry I sat for. The fact is these are very important issues and issues that must be taken more seriously than has been displayed by those opposite.