Thank you to all the folk who have signed my petition to retain cheques.

After examining the comments that have been left on the petition, several themes have come out strongly from them.

The first theme is that many people are realising that cheques and physical cash are partners in preventing a digital-only monetary regime from being imposed on society.    Cheques are, for large or remote payments, what physical cash is for in-person payments – that is, the safe, non-digital, private, reliable, and economical way to make payments.

Another theme that has come out strongly is that people should have the right to choose their payment method – not have electronic transactions imposed on them.

A third theme coming out in the comments is how much safer and more reliable cheques are than electronic payments – and this is particularly pertinent to very large payments that are often made by cheque.

Perhaps the most revealing comment the petition has received, is from Robert Barwick, Research Director of the Australian Citizens Party.    He says -

“The Australian Banking Association is lying when they claim cheque use has fallen.    It's only fallen as a proportion of overall transactions, which have grown; cheque use hasn't fallen in absolute numbers.    People need them, like they need cash.”

Keep sharing and discussing the petition.

Thank you.

David Miller.