The government has announced a date, in several years’ time, for the final elimination of cheques.    If people want to preserve this safe, reliable, flexible, and economical method of making large or remote payments, then they need to publicise my petition, and promote it to their friends, relatives, and business acquaintances etc, NOW.    11,000 signatures is not enough to cause the government to change its mind.    People should also write to their member of Federal parliament and Senators about this issue.

If the planned elimination of cheques goes ahead, then we will see a lot more people lose large sums of money to fraud, scams, and electronic theft.    Electronic transactions have been described as “Society’s gift to fraudsters” –

https://www.msn.com/en-au/money/markets/digital-banking-could-open-the-door-for-scammers-here-s-what-you-need-to-know/ar-AA1pBeWh?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=3f68acb8aa0d419c90519dac2b8b63f0&ei=22

This “gift” in action can be seen in countries where the elimination of conventional payment systems is well advanced.    For example, electronic transactions have turned Sweden from a low crime country, into the crime capital of Europe –

https://fortune.com/europe/2024/06/21/why-going-cashless-has-turned-sweden-from-one-of-the-safest-countries-into-a-high-crime-nation/

As well as the fact that electronic payments lend themselves to criminal interception, electronic payments are much more expensive than conventional payments, as can be seen from the current debate about electronic surcharges.    These surcharges on major payments can be considerable, and even a collection of minor card transactions accumulates a large sum in surcharges.    For example, a 1% surcharge on a $5,000 payment is $50.    No wonder the financial services association is pressuring the government to abolish cheques, and working to force people into electronic transactions!    With cheques, there is no need to pay surcharges.    Cheques are much cheaper, and some banks, such as the bank I use – IMB - offer a completely free cheque service – including free bank cheques!

With cheques eliminated, and no alternative to electronic transactions available for large or remote payments, it is likely that the electronic payment service providers will push surcharges even higher – greed in action!

Please share the petition with others:

https://www.change.org/save-cheques

Thankyou.

David Miller.