Australias Cash Ban : Rising Authoritarianism in the Land of Plenty

in #politics5 years ago (edited)

Ask any Aussie and they’ll say we are a Free and Democratic country. Well, for the most part we have been over the course of my lifetime and I wasn’t exactly born yesterday. People around the world might have a different view of us, but if you aren’t familiar with Australian culture we’re generally a pretty laid back bunch. We take a “She’ll be right mate” approach to most things (Translation – Don’t worry, everything will be OK) but perhaps this is to our detriment. We never really had to fight for our freedom so we kind of take it for granted.

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Like many Western countries, our freedom is being eroded away. The frog is being slowly boiled and most Aussies remain oblivious to the fact that it’s even happening, let alone understand how and why it is happening. However, this latest move by the powers that be is actually causing a bit of a stir. They are trying to crack down on the use of Cash by threatening jail time for anyone transacting more than $10,000 in cash via proposed legislation the Currency (Restrictions on the Use of Cash) Bill 2019

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This kind of draconian policy has already had success in places like India and in Australia we have both major parties seemingly in support of this proposed bill. The government has put the legislation forward and it looks like some in the opposition don’t think it goes far enough! They have structured it in such a way that the legislation bans all cash transactions and the regulation paired with it provides a number of exceptions (such as cryptocurrencies) By doing it this way they can get the law passed through parliament and then remove the exceptions in the regulation without the need to go through parliament when the time comes to crack down further. Clever bastards…..

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The cover story for all this comes from the Black Economy Taskforce which claims that it needs to do this to prevent criminals from avoiding taxes and such. The truth is that removing cash from society forces citizens into the banking system and paves the way for negative interest rates - as has been publicly advised by the International Monetary Fund. What is quite pleasing is that some media are calling them out with articles like this one – Banning cash so you pay the bank to hold your money is what the IMF wants. There was a poll held on ABC radio that showed 97% of respondants opposed the proposed laws….that both major parties support. Does that sound like a functioning democracy where politicians represent the will of the people?

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The concern for me is that this is the thin edge of the wedge and it’s not too big a jump for the Black Economy Taskforce to start banning Gold or Cryptos using exactly the same arguments they are using here to ban cash. Once the law is in place then all they have to do is tweak the regulation to make it so. I have long wondered if one day I might be classified as a criminal because of my alternative investments outside the banking system and this is probably how it happens. The fight is not over though. There are petitions and groups that are trying to pressure MPs into rejecting the proposed legislation. We have less than Two weeks to stop Parliament passing Morrison’s cash ban!. If you value your freedom in Australia please help build awareness of this issue. Our future generations depend on it.

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Utterly insane legislation!

How could they even consider such a law on banning the transfer of YOUR money over $10,000? It is your money! If you do, then face a jail sentence of up to 2 years or a $25,0000 fine.

If it passes, how long before lower cash transfers are banned. Then it will be banning cryptos and the ownership of precious metals!

Sincerely hope the legislation fails.

Thanks for posting.

You got a 55.81% upvote from @brupvoter courtesy of @agrostis!

If money is a service they're providing us, why are they trying to limit its usefulness?
You're right though. Like any new law; its just for fringe cases at first. How many of us have recently paid more than $10,000 cash to a business? (Paying another individual is currently exempted)
Won't affect me, and I'm sure the overlords have good reason to need the new rule. Give em a fair go.
Bliss is just a few more rules away.

Because cash has out-served it's usefulness compared to digital money with full control and surveillance capability? Something is definitely just a few more rules away. Don't think it's bliss tho....

The latest twist on this legislation is said to be much wider than the draft legislation suggests and now they're considering adding crypto currencies and gold bullion to the proposal.
Adams north did a youtube vid on it today on their In the Interests of the People channel.
Only Together Can The People Break The Morrison Government!
We need to hit this with everything we have, emails, letters, phone calls etc. I've even bailed up my federal MP in the shopping center and grilled her over it.
This has parallels to the democratic freedoms being stolen in Hong Kong, it probably won't affect me much but my kids will have to live with it if it gets through.

Well, there's no need to wonder what government is for, when the full political fury of the people is necessary to mitigate it's depredations. Keeps anything good from getting done, anyway, and if the people fail to stymie oppressions in the offing, then more profit for the substantially staked from their feeder cattle.

Seems likely they'll succeed sooner than later, so it might be a good time to develop alternative stores of value that folks can exchange absent pernicious fees and interferene in their affairs. Beaver pelts used to serve hereabouts. Perhaps emus could serve there, or opals from Coober Pedy?

It's seems like they could get it through as you suggest, good old Aussie apathy should see to that. All these maneuvers are being dictated by the IMF, governments don't make the big decisions here they're just middle management for the world banksters that really run the charade.

This proposed law is NOT about the black economy. It is about control and surveillance. It is about abolishing privacy and choice. It is about the IMF.

This evil Bill is a trap and about forcing unsuspecting Australians to conduct EVERY financial transaction electronically with PRIVATE sector banks.

Have private sector banks ever laundered money? Commonwealth Bank of Australia has been caught out accepting numerous cash deposits over $10,00Aud into ATM's (clear money laundering) and plea bargained modified penalty... note no jail for them!

The fiat currency system is on the verge of collapse and the Reserve Bank of Australia may soon countenance negative interest rates ultimately in the order of 4 or 5 percent. See IMF working Paper – “Monetary Policy with Negative Interest Rates: Decoupling Cash From Electric Money” August 2018.

This proposed law will allow the Government of the day to confiscate citizens money (electronically) to prop up failing banks.

This Bill seeks to (ultimately) use the Australian Federal Police to stop citizens using cash and must never become law.

Penalty: imprisonment for 2 years or 120 penalty units ($25,200) or both!

Of great concern is that if (and when) this Bill becomes law regulations will be used to modify exemptions, thus allowing any government to further restrict the use of cash or crypto currencies by citizens without any scrutiny by the Parliament.

The two party tyranny in Australia - Liberal and Labor intend to quash financial freedom and stomp on privacy of individual citizens!

The Australian Constitution does not recognise political parties..... time for citizens to demand a citizen referendum on this aka the Swiss model.

I agree with all of your points. Well said.

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Oregon has a referendum mechanism, but the Governor, Kate Brown, has spearheaded an effort to preclude it using emergency clauses in legislation, creating a time limit to implement regulations that prevent referenda from being used to head off unsavory laws, such as carbon taxes that harshly impact rural areas (as began the Yellow Jacket movement in France) and industries like farms and resource management.

Best gear up for a major fight if you want a referendum process. The Democrat party has a supermajority at the state level here, and Republicans were unable to stop noxious bills from passing complete with emergency clauses, such as the aforementioned carbon tax, so they lit out for other jurisdictions, to cause lack of quorum to prevent passage of legislation they could not qualify. Gov. Brown sent the State Police to round up errant senators, insofar as they remained within the state. One Sen. Boquist had been a private paramilitary prior to entering government service, and the State Police refrained from too diligently seeking him.

<a href=“https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/06/oregon-senate-republicans-flee-state-in-protest-of-cap-and-trade-bill-denying-dems-quorum-governor-dispatches-police-to-arrest-them/">"This is what I told the superintendent,” Boquist said, referring to OSP Superintendent Travis Hampton. “Send bachelors and come heavily armed. I’m not going to be a political prisoner in the state of Oregon. It’s just that simple.”

A spokeswoman for the Oregon State Police did not respond to an inquiry Wednesday afternoon about whether the agency is investigating Boquist’s threat.

In an email to The Oregonian/OregonLive Wednesday afternoon, Boquist stuck with his earlier statement and rejected a reporter’s characterization of his threat to troopers as “thinly veiled.”

“Nothing thinly veiled,” Boquist wrote. “I have been in political coup attempts. I have been held hostage overseas. I have been jailed politically overseas … Not going to be arrested as a political prisoner in Oregon period.”

That was how the impasse was ended, and the Democrats have stopped the practice. That's what it took though. Australia may not be as able to prosecute such a plan, bereft of armed militias as here informed Gov. Brown they'd be attending the next special legislative session, causing it to be canceled. Perhaps an emu stampede through parliament there might accomplish something similar. Emus are certainly cantankerous enough to do the job.

Best to boot the bastards out, and not replace them, IMHO.

Interesting legal question is whether this is an unconstitutional “taking” by preventing an asset being used for an otherwise legitimate purpose.

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I guess that depends on whats written in your constitution. We have got one, but it's not particularly good.

I'm talking about the Australian Constitution. I'm an Australian lawyer. :-)

If you are an australian lawyer you would know the "Australian" constitution is an act of the british parliament, and "the people of australia" do not have a constitution

That's good to know. If you reckon we might have a case for getting this legislation thrown out as unconstitutional then lets do it!

The 5 Eyes Nations are being lead by a much deeper state than their respective parlaments. That cat jumped embarrassingly out of the bag in 2003 when your, then, PM and the PM from the Confederation of Canukistan read from the same script. Opps. 😎

I haven't seen that one before. Thanks. It's another smoking gun.

For our sake, stop them, do a "Guy Fawkes" even if it isnt the 5th November.
If your lot do it, our idiots will follow suit.

Which idiots are you referring to? The UK variety?

The German-speaking world is different from what I've heard. Germans love their cash and Switzerland is generally considered a land of financial freedom.

Convenience can indeed be a pathway to a loss of freedom. AML regulations and practices have become tighter here in Finland, too. A year and a half ago my wife and I were at the bank with the sellers of the house we bought. There was a delay with the paperwork and the sellers, us, and the loan officer had time for a little chat. She told us that it wasn't out of the ordinary for someone to come with a bag full of money to buy some cheap piece of property in the 1990s. But if you tried to buy, say, a property lot with €20,000 in cash, it would trigger an investigation.

That may be reasonable. But making cash transactions larger than $10,000 is excessively harsh. Indeed, it is in our interest to fight it because these regulations are likely a slippery slope.

We have AML regulations too. Called KYC here (Know Your Customer) and anything over $5K AUD is reported. But getting surveillance and getting a criminal charge is quite the jump.

Is it just banning single cash transactions over $10,000? An additional crazy aspect of this is $10,000 AUD isn’t really that much money. Especially in a place like Aus where stuff often costs more. You could easily drop that on buying an old crappy car or one stop at Freedom furniture in search of a new bedroom suite. Not to mention the pay us in cash tradies scene.

It makes me think of the customs form that asks if you are bringing more than $10k into the country.

The pay cash tradie scene is probably a tax dodge that would constitute black economy, but there are still plenty of legitimate uses of cash. The problem with the nominated $10K number is that it's just a number that seems non threatening to many on face value, but give us a few years of inflation and it becomes not much at all. That's what is meant by the boiling frog analogy - it happens slowly enough not to be noticed or resisted.

I heard about that. It suck, man. I hope you all are going to be able to stop it from going into affect. The government is supposed to listen to the people they represent after all.

They haven't been representing the people for a while now. This government just got in too so by the time the next election comes around an issue like this will be forgotten by the masses.

I guess it's unimportant if people realize what's happening or not.. we can't stop / change it anyways..

If you really wanna do something against authority, teach urself about Agorism and Counter-Economy :)

I hope it does not come to that. Not sure if you picked up in my post, but I would prefer to stay out of jail.

Yea. That's the conditionizing by the authority.

You dont even try to stop em (of mostly doing unconstitutional shit), cuz ure in fear.
Others are in ignorance, or in comfort.

Until it's too late..

Well, that is where you are wrong. I am trying to stop them, so are many other people. There might not be enough of us, but there is definitely a resistance to this via legal means. We will find out in the next 2 weeks whether this particular battle can be won.

Do you really think you can win via legal means against people who dont even stay legal for themselves?
They made the whole legal system up. ^^

If we still had the gold standard there wouldnt be wars. These current wars are only there cuz the petro dollar.

If we, as the people, legitimate a new, better system. You don't need to be a slave anymore.

But I guess that's hard to unterstand, especially if one is totally brainwashed..

I am pretty sure that we had wars when we were on a gold standard. I do know a little bit of history ;)

Please don't talk to me like I am a brainwashed idiot. I am well aware of what is going on and the criminality of the elites. My method is clearly different from yours and that is because I know that I'm no good to anyone in prison and we haven't lost the battle yet.

Yea? Wars about oil, petrol and artificial limited ressources?

But yea, alright. Live and let live. Also let the elite continue stuff like pizzagate.
But dont wonder or cry afterwards.

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