DEAR News Of The Area,

TAKE two families A and B, and a little shop in a country town.

The little shop embraces diversity.

The shop has a backup generator and accepts both card and cash.

There has been a large bush fire that has destroyed all the poles and wires, hence no power. Power will be restored in about two weeks.

No power means no fridge, no freezer, no cooking, no lighting.

Feeding your family becomes a problem.

Both families have their cars locked in their garage, a power source is required to access their cars.

Family A has had grandparents that survived WW2 and know to keep a little cash on hand as well as embracing technology to pay their bills etc.

Family B considers cash old fashioned and embraces technology for all their needs.

The little shop switches on their generator and places a sign on the counter: ‘Cash Only’.

Both families walk to the little store to buy food?

Which family gets to eat?

Which family goes hungry?

Which family will you be a part of?

Other examples where there is no diversity.

The honeybee industry and pollination of food crops – enter the Varroa Mite, many businesses go to the wall.

The wine industry, which relied on one huge Asian market – enter Covid 19.

The political fallout as to the origins of Covid 19 saw tariffs go up on Australian exports and a huge loss of trade worth billions to the Australian economy.

We need diversity in our payment systems, without it, we have many vulnerabilities.

Make no mistake, going cashless completely is a disaster in the making.

Yours sincerely,
Mrs Margaret JOHANSON,
Coffs Harbour.