Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party, Shadow Minister for International Development and the Pacific) Share this | Hansard source

Let me acknowledge the presence in the chamber of the erstwhile member for Kennedy, who is about to deliver his 977th speech to this parliament—on this occasion about the importance of cash—and acknowledge his 50 years of parliamentary service, including since 1993 as the member for Kennedy. I'd like to thank him for what he has done not just for the people of Kennedy but, indeed, for this nation. Thank you, Bob.

This legislation, this bill, this debate, this motion, is important, because people should be able to pay for things with cash. For many people, whatever legislation we put before the House, as far as finance and treasury laws et cetera are concerned, cash will always be king. It's of great concern to regional communities that we have so many regional bank closures. We need branches to stay open. We need to have the ability to be able to use cash. I'm sure the member for Kennedy agrees with that premise.

I had a woman in my electorate write to me the other day, concerned about the phasing out of cheques, because people like to hang onto traditional norms of payment. A little known fact is that you can go to the supermarket and pay for your groceries with stamps should that be your desire. They are legal tender, but you could imagine the looks you would get if you tried that on.

We heard earlier from the member for Cowper about the woman in his electorate, who just wanted to cash in $160 worth of cash, to be able to get that back, and the difficulty she had doing just that. Businesspeople these days have had a number of bank closures, particularly in a community such as Junee, in my electorate, which is 42 kilometres from Wagga Wagga, as have Coolamon, Cootamundra, Cowra, Forbes, Grenfell, Lockhart, Parkes, Temora, Wagga Wagga and West Wyalong. It sounds like a line out of the song 'I've Been Everywhere'. Unfortunately it's, 'I've seen banking closures everywhere, man'. It does have an impact on businesses that accept cash. All businesses should accept cash. It's just not right that businesses in Australia do not. I appreciate that some businesses have got their own systems, but they should all accept cash.

I appreciated that the Senate inquiry into bank closures in regional Australia held a hearing at Junee on 21 September 2023. Junee has suffered from several bank closures in recent years, including having four banks once upon a time and probably even more, way back in the day. But three of those four banks, in more modern times, have now closed. Only the Commonwealth Bank remains. It was important for the inquiry to hear the concerns of local residents, particularly the then-mayor, Neil Smith. I know the current mayor, Bob Callow, shares the same concerns.

The Commonwealth Bank, at least, has put its plan to close the branch on hold and committed to maintaining all of its regional branches in Australia until the end of 2026. I say that's good and not before time. Many of these banks have done very nicely, thank you very much, out of country people—particularly out of our farmers, who've had big holdings. The banks have had the ability to use that money on the international monetary exchange and have been able to lend to customers and do all their banking services on the back of regional Australia providing the confidence and investment in those banks. Then, when the foot traffic suddenly isn't what it used to be, all of a sudden the banks say: 'Well, hang on a minute. Why do we need to keep that branch open?' Well, not everybody has an iPhone, believe it or not. Not everybody wants to do their banking on an iPhone, on a laptop, on an iPad or on a computer. Some people like to use cash. Some people like to go into bank branches. And it's incumbent upon these bank branches, which have done very nicely—thank you very much—out of regional Australia, to keep those branches open.

I'm pleased that that Senate inquiry heard the evidence. I'm pleased that the Commonwealth Bank has got a stay of execution on some of their bank closures. I would urge and encourage banks to remain open in country Australia. I would urge and encourage the government to do everything it can to make sure that Australians can continue to pay with cash for essential items if they want to, as this motion says, while also ensuring an orderly transition to phase out cheques. Well, hang on a minute. We still need cheques in Australia. It's important. That's one part of this item that I do not agree with. Cash does need to remain in service for as long as we care to think about it.

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