‘A distraction’: Dutton criticises Chalmers’ cash announcement

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has criticised Treasurer Jim Chalmers’ announcement on making it mandatory for businesses to accept cash for essential items as “nothing more than a thought bubble”. The federal government is launching a mandate to make it mandatory for businesses to accept cash for essential items. “From what I can see so far, it’s nothing more than a thought bubble and I think probably a distraction from the Treasurer who should frankly be spending his time on working out how to bring down inflation,” Mr Dutton told Sky News Australia. “We need cash in our society – that much is obvious – and there’s a trend in terms of cashlessness, but we still have the need for a currency in our society.”