CLANCY OVERELL | Editor | CONTACT
Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese has today been labelled a sell-out to his own kind. And no we aren’t talking about Labor left faction, or the environmentalists, or the Grayndler residents who have had their houses and businesses seized for the Westconnex project, or the Australian working class in general.
It’s the Italian-Australian community this time, as well as the many other ethnic community groups that Albo grew up alongside.
This comes as the Government’s Black Economy Taskforce argues a $10,000 cash limit for transactions between businesses and individuals would help fight the cash economy by tackling tax evasion, money laundering and the privacy of law-abiding Southern-European seniors.
The proposed laws tabled under the Currency (Restrictions on the Use of Cash) Bill would see Australians face two-year jail sentences and up to $25,200 in fines if cash transactions between business and individuals exceed $10,000.
So far, Bob Katter MP is the only politician who has slammed the Bill labelling it a “danger to our freedom greater than the danger through terrorism”.
Katter, who has a lot of old Greeks and Italians in the North Queensland end of his electorate, has likened the Bill to George Orwell’s novel 1984, saying the law violates a person’s right to privacy.
However, Shadow Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones said Labor would look at the details of the legislation but the bar for the party to vote against the proposed law was “very, very high” – with Albo remaining tight-lipped on the issue.
The ALP leader was notably absent from the Ferragosto Italian Festival in his home electorate over the weekend, with many of the local Nonnos speculating he wouldn’t be game to show his face around Five Dock.
“He a sell us out mayte” said local fruiterer, Santino Carbone (75).
“I a carry $20k in the boot of my Charger at all times. In case I see another Charger I wanta to buy”
“Albo not true Italian. Not like Mr Katter. Mr Katter even tell me he Italian when I visit my cousins in Ingham last year”
