Australia Bans Cash For All Purchases Over $7,500
"Australia’s Liberal Party government says it’s 'encouraging the transition to a digital society,' and cracking down on tax evasion."
How I went dark in Australia’s public transport surveillance state for 2 years
"As long as I'm carrying my Black Opal, there's that little shred of liberty. If this the hill I die on, at least you'll never know how I got here."
Authorities deactivate transit pass after biohacker implants it in his hand
"New South Wales' authorities deactivated the card under Meow-Meow's name after his surgery in April 2017 made headlines. However, since the chip implanted in his hand wasn't registered to him, he was able to use it for almost a whole year -- only downside was that he sometimes had to swipe his palm over the scanner more than once. It was only after he traveled back to Australia from a cyborg convention in the US that authorities were successfully able to cut off the card he's been using."
Drone saves two Australian swimmers in world first
"It took just a minute or two to launch the drone, fly it to the rescue site, and drop the pod. Any other day, reaching the teenagers could easily have taken three times as long. The drone's camera also recorded the whole rescue."
Secret Cabinet documents leaked after locked cabinets sold in Australia
"The Australian government on Wednesday launched an urgent investigation into the loss of thousands of classified documents that were sold with two second-hand filing cabinets and later obtained by a major news outlet. The cabinets were sold by a Canberra furniture shop at a discount price because they were locked and no one could find keys, the Australian Broadcasting Corp. reported."
7 Years of Work on Food Forest Destroyed Over Permit
"The city council felled an entire stretch of this Urban Food Street, even preventing residents from collecting the fruit before the destruction." Continue reading →
Australia Joins The War On Cash While Venezuela Backtracks Cash Ban
Developed-world governments are joining their developing-world counterparts in governing by surprise and openly placing their citizens' wealth at risk through anti-cash messaging and actions. Continue reading →
Australian inquiry says digital currencies are real money
"An Australian government inquiry will recommend treating digital currencies as money, simplifying tax for people who trade with them while forcing bitcoin exchanges to monitor customers for potential money laundering and terrorism financing activities. The Senate committee recommendations underscore governments' growing acceptance of the role of so-called 'cryptocurrencies' around the world. If implemented, the changes would align Australia with the United Kingdom and Spain by having people pay sales tax just once if they buy something with bitcoin, while leaving other nations like Sweden to fret over its true legal status. The changes would also match Australia with Canada and Singapore." Continue reading →
More Jawboning from Australia’s Central Bank
"RBA Governor Glenn Stevens proceeded from characterizing the level of the exchange rate as 'uncomfortably high' to noting 'that foreign-exchange intervention can, judiciously used in the right circumstances, be effective and useful.' That latter observation was particularly noteworthy because, according to The Wall Street Journal, a currency intervention has essentially been verboten in the decades since Australia shifted to a floating exchange rate in 1983. He closed his remarks on this particular topic with an even more overt statement: 'Nonetheless, we think that investors are under-estimating the likelihood of a significant fall in the Australian dollar at some point.'" Continue reading →
Australian Bank Publishes Report ‘Bitcoin to replace AUD?’
"The National Australia Bank (NAB), one of Australia’s ‘Big Four’ banking groups, published a three-page research paper on 19th December titled 'Bitcoin to replace AUD?' (Australian dollars). Despite the provocative title, the paper does not suggest replacing the national currency with bitcoin, nor say it could happen in the near future. Rather, it is an explanation of bitcoin and a comparison of the nature of digital currencies with existing sovereign currencies, and how they fit into the current international financial system. Bitcoin could well become a widely accepted medium of exchange, the paper said, but it would take many more years to achieve mainstream acceptance." Continue reading →