Do you have an opinion to share? Submit a Letter to the Editor at Sunshine Coast News via news@sunshinecoastnews.com.au. You must include your name and suburb.
- Read the story: How we could soon be ‘money free’ and The reality of cold hard cash.
If we are cashless, how do we give money to a homeless person? Also how does a homeless person open a new bank account?
Archie Fleming, Caboolture
Apathy, lazy mindset and the lack of future thinking may lead to a cashless society.
Once cash becomes extinct, governments, banks and financial institutions will have societies in control. There will be no privacy, and endemic authoritarian control will become the norm. Our current so-called democratic (societies) are using Soviet Union type control in effect, with “capitalism communism“, with the loss of people’s own control over their assets.
Thankfully, I will not be around to witness this decay, for my grandchildren, they will have been brainwashed. Get real with the truth.
Eric Hocks, address withheld
I shall use cash for many purchases as long as I am able to.
What you wrote is correct, us geriatrics loved/love a wad of cash. In past years, we felt rich when we had plenty of cash, cash used to have cachet too. It’s also somehow less sterile than using cards. However, I also use cards regularly: often it is easier. So, a mixed bag.
As is very common with this country, they pour the baby out with the bathwater in an effort to seem modern, up to the minute. No doubt the same will happen with cash. Australia is marvellous at failing to learn from past errors of judgement and lessons and is thus doomed to repeat such a scenario again.
Gerald Pain, Melbourne, VIC
Having $11,000 stolen out of my account, cash is the only way I want to go from now on thank you very much.
Colin Hughes, address withheld
Being cashless, my grandparents living in Coober Pedy would absolutely die.
Also, giving homeless people money, which I do, giving buskers money, which I do, giving kids money for birthdays – everything I do is with cash and it’s my money so I should be able to use it or have it when I like. Let’s not forget we tip money at restaurants as well as priests for their Sunday services, also garage sales and restaurants that I use actually make my meal cheaper if I pay cash.
There’s so many other reasons but most of all I like going to casinos and if I go with my bank card I would be bound to lose it all, but if I go with cash I take out 50 dollars and leave my card home.
Please, please no cashless or I will really go backwards in life financially and more than likely suffer with mental depression. Leave the cash circulating please.
Nick Milojevic, Adelaide, SA
My partner and I own a small cafe and take mostly cash but also eftpos transactions.
The problem is we have electricity outages and some customers don’t have cash so we literally lose hundreds of dollars. Internet problems occur regularly also so once again no eftpos transactions so no money unless people go to an ATM machine somewhere as banks too are closing around us at an alarming rate.
Many years ago when I first arrived in Australia I was homeless and lived on the streets relying solely on money donated from strangers to just exist and now when I see homeless people asking for a few dollars for a coffee etc I always give some cash to help. Homeless people do not carry eftpos machines with them, couldn’t afford the charges anyway.
Taffy Rowlands, Gundagai, NSW
Here’s a question worth asking.
How will the cashless operating financial institutions (ie banks), be able to guarantee that their systems won’t go down, due to lightning strike, flood, cyclone etc?
What would happen to all those people lined up at grocery checkouts, petrol stations and the like, who all of a sudden, won’t have access to card payment options due to the systems being down with no other payment alternative (such as cash)? Why does Australia have to be a sheep and follow the rest of the world into the economic abyss by removing cash from its economy and society altogether?
This will just make us a culturally sterile country, with no pop-up markets, no community farms, no road stalls that rely on cash and honesty for payments. I can’t imagine these businesses having a card swiping machine or tap and go card facility, and if they did, the device would get stolen for sure.
We can and should continue to facilitate cash in our economy and society, which would make us a cash tourist destination just for that experience alone. Tourists can turn their electronic money into Aussie dollars.
There is no reason why we can’t run both currencies.
Leonard, surname and address withheld
In what god forsaken delusional world do you think going cashless is a good idea?
People need to have a choice, not be forced to use cards all the time. This country is going down the drain fast enough, no need to speed it up and force people into a box on how they live their life.
Nathan Verdich, Newcastle, NSW
So how do you give you kids money from the tooth fairy?
How do you give kids cash for mothers day stall at school? Cash for school canteen? Cash so your kids can hang out with their friends? Cash for the market stalls fresh vegetables and bric-a-brac garage sales and buying food at the local football club to raise money?
Cashless society means all these things are taken away from the people in every way
Not good at all.
Marcus Evans, address withheld
I remember when I had a pay packet, then we went to paying into a bank account only, that’s when the bank stated they would never charge you for using ATMs.
It didn’t take them long to change to charging you.
If we go cashless, we leave ourselves open for extra charges for using our accounts, plus will they pay us back if accounts are hacked? I think not.
If we go cashless then the law should change to make banks pay back the hacked accounts.
John Reynolds, Perth, WA
We have come to rely on technology for everything.
What happens when technology fails and people can’t pay rent or their mortgage and bills or they accumulate late fees due to technology failure? It’s a bad idea and it’s going to send the world to war if people cannot access their money.
Tech glitches, downtimes, and huge virus can shut down the internet. We are heading into dangerous territory relying on computers and the internet, especially with our electricity being so unreliable: smart cars that no one can afford to buy let alone afford to charge with electricity prices.
I for one will never be able to afford a electric car or electricity prices for much longer. I’m a carer on a pension. That money just feeds and clothes my family after rent. Electricity is something we need but cannot afford with the current prices and if they increase I don’t know what I will have to do to survive.
Rhiannon French, Doonside, NSW
It’s all very well if the new technology works but (not) at times that machines don’t work.
I waited 20-30 minutes in a business while their banking eftpos machine did not work at top speed.
It needs to be well thought through before a cashless society that doesn’t suit all.
Gwyn Wanstall, Mandurah, Western Australia
Obviously, these academics and other purveyors of a cash-free society haven’t lived without grid power for five or six days.
If the grid is off your phones don’t work, the internet doesn’t work so to buy the basics of life you need cash. We had this experience in Maleny and surrounds some time ago and had to travel 25km just to access a cash point. If there is a major power outage for whatever reason, including terrorism, we will be thrust back into the dark ages with barter being the currency of the day.
This is typical of tunnel vision academics and politicians who strive to have total control of the population. China did it first, now it’s our turn. Orwell saw it coming.
Richard Courtenay, Witta
Going cashless is not everybody’s cup of tea as it can place pressure on some that are much comfortable using cash.
There has to be a balance and some common sense approach. It seems to be working in Icelandic countries (buy that) doesn’t mean it will work elsewhere or accepted. It’s a matter of slow progression.
Noel Georges, Sydney
Recently, we refuelled at Cocklebiddy on the Eyre Highway in WA. The signs on the fuel pump said cash only.
The reason was the eftpos machines relied on the local Telstra 4G cell, which happened to be out of service. There were at least four vehicles waiting for the cell tower to return to service, as they didn’t have enough cash to buy fuel. Earlier in the trip one of our credit cards had been fraudulently compromised, so we were using cash only. Twenty years ago, I was an IT worker with one of our banks, when on Christmas Eve around midday, about one in three card transactions started failing, resulting in chaos in shops for a few hours. The cause was a small change in a third party provider’s software which had not been communicated to our bank.
The point here is that no-one can guarantee the cashless systems will always be working. Or will always be free from fraud. I believe anyone who does not always carry some cash is blindly optimistic.
Phil Garrad, Beerwah
My husband and I recently drove around Australia.
We always carried at least $1000 in cash with us. As we hit the Nullabor we discovered the whole area’s internet was down. To our relief we paid for food and fuel and we were on our way. Not so, for the dozens of drivers of caravans and vehicles who pulled in with no cash and no way of paying for food let alone fuel.
The internet is too fickle in a country like Australia and we’d be fools to rid ourselves of a trustworthy and flexible commodity.
Gillian Pollard, Mt Sheridan
I fully understand the benefits of a cashless system, with no need to carry cash or change: only a card, phone, watch or even an implant and the shops don’t need to carry cash limiting banking needs and less risk of robbery .
However, the negatives far out way the benefits, including: the banks make more money but people lose their jobs; there is no more physical banks, only telephone operators if not only online contacts; there’s a massive risk for fraud with hackers becoming more clever everyday, and banks won’t eventually refund stolen money; the risk of losing your phone, or card, or having a stolen, flat, smashed or water logged phone, which leaves you without any way of immediately gaining money until you buy a new phone, or receive a new card, but there’s no physical banks; it makes it that little bit harder to change a bank; card fees are on some transactions giving the banks even more money; the bank knows your whole life’s habits, nothing is now private; it’s far easier to overspend as the limit is not seen as cash is physical; the government knows your habits and once again no privacy; the government saves massive money on not printing money but those savings won’t go back to the public; the government totally want cashless for the control – do you trust the government?; and the government knows your whole income, spending habits, taxes, wages, nothing in your whole life is private.
No privacy, massive job losses, security threats: is this what you want?
People say that the older people will find it hard – that’s rubbish. The older people realise the dangers, the younger people are clueless with their heads fully into Uber Eats and Uber bank. When they grow up they will realise, but too late.
Some cashless is okay but keep money as well. Push back on this.
Kevin Bliss, Perth
This seems like yet another concerning trend that will benefit central banks and private financial institutions at the detriment of people’s choices and convenience.
This could potentially mean adding and privatising profits on every single transaction: outrageous.
If the government is forcing this on people, it must propose and support adequate and sustainable infrastructure without added service costs and charges that would dilute the buying power of the population and would effectively migrate more of the wealth towards the ultra rich.
Alex Mejia, Morningside
Going into this silly 2030 agenda is complete tyranny/dictatorship and communism.
A cash note never loses value, anything through a bank transaction it always reduces the value. For what? Oh bigger, richer people to continually make money off the poor. It’s also another way for you to be tracked. There is no free movement with your money because of who’s watching because you’ll have your social credit score, so you’ll have to be a good citizen if you want any funds.
What the UN, WEF and WHO are pushing for is complete rubbish. We’ll be free range chickens: people will think that they are free, but they’re not, they will be on complete lockdown with their food and water, be expected to produce in their zone, and that’s it, stay where they’re told to.
An idea of a cashless society is completely cruel to each individual, but again, not like anyone actually cares for the people, like they claim.
Stephanie Davey, address not provided
Let me say I was located near some nasty bushfires a couple of years ago in NSW and the comm towers in the hills burnt out and those that were cash free couldn’t buy anything. I had my cash on hand and I could buy food, fuel, indeed whatever the town had so that showed my cash will always be king.
Peter Flack, Nowra, NSW
Will bank seinorage be exempt from charitable donations?
Also, I do not accept that the banks should be able to charge us for a card and then charge the business for our payment. It is yet another control measure by big government. Will numismaticists then collect bank cards?
So much history has been available only because of coins – will we be entering a no record period of history especially if electronic records are somehow wiped? The implications will have to be explained in far more detail or as with our current referendum I will have to responsibly vote no.
Phil Benjamin, Dicky Beach
This move to a ‘cashless society’ will see even more scammers, and people are already loosing thousands to them each year.
Technology has not been able to stop them. Hopefully, i wont be around when this total control happens. Because thats what it is. I hope cash stays as long as possible.
L Haskell, Hillman, WA
E-bikes and e-scooters danger
I hope the council have lots of cash to pay to people who get injured or worse when they get hit by e-bikes, e-scooters etc on what will become a racetrack for them, especially over Alexandra Headland.
Ron Sorrell, Mountain Creek
- Read the story: Residents call for stronger police presence in suburb
Having read your article regarding the police, we all know that Caloundra is a police-free town.
You never see a police car on the streets, at least not during the day. Ride your e-bike or-scooter without a helmet or use your phone whilst driving and no one will stop you because the police are just not there.
Colin Mcallister, Caloundra
- Read the story: Design work underway on beachside cycle path
My recollection is that the original design sometime back was rejected quite vocally by the local users of the present pathway, and so progress on building of a new pathway including provision of bike lanes was halted.
Has the local member pursued a review and a revamp of the originally proposed pathway with the council and state government or has the looming state election prompted her to issue a press release on this subject. We can all recall Fiona Simpsons planning abilities when she proposed that a viaduct be built through Yandina instead of building the present Bruce Highway Bypass around Yandina.
James Egerton, Nambour
- Read the story: Court forces ‘U-turn’ on controversial supermarket
It will cause horrendous traffic congestion on Steve Irwin Way.
There is already congestion at that intersection and now we add Bells Creek Road and this development. It’s stupidity and probably because Coles want to challenge Woollies. Up the road we will have a huge water park and a caravan park. This make Steve Irwin Way a bigger nightmare than it already is and the people of Beerwah and Landsborough will suffer.
Ole Harboe, Landsborough
- Read the story: Council opposes quarry vegetation clearing bid
I can’t believe the Noosa Shire Council can approve a lease of an area for a hard rock quarry, and then oppose clearing of the vegetation required to access the rock underneath.
Where does council propose that the rock required for roadbuilding and concrete making in the Noosa shire should come from, that does not require land clearing. The council is just trying to appease ‘green’ voters at it’s own expense. Presumably, when the lease was granted, rehabilitation tree planting was a condition of the lease; so what is the problem, besides a chance to make political mischief.
It is time for some sort of pre-election logical-thinking test to be applied to potential politicians during candidate selection.
Alan Ward, Buderim
- Read the story: Dog owners, know the rules or cop a hefty fine
It would be positive to remind people that these restrictions help protect migratory and nesting birds.
Frank Paige, Golden Beach
Do you have an opinion to share? Submit a Letter to the Editor at Sunshine Coast News via news@sunshinecoastnews.com.au. You must include your name and suburb.
