Paying for a funeral could land you in JAIL under the radical new $10,000 cash ban law
- Senate economics legislation committee worried about $10,000 cash ban law
- It feared migrants from Christian Orthodox, Buddhist communities were at risk
- Australians face $25,200 fines or two years' jail for giving banknotes to business
Grieving Australians could land themselves in jail if they pay for a lavish funeral in cash.
Under proposed new laws, handing over more than $10,000 in cash to a registered business could see someone fined $25,200 or jailed for up to two years.
A parliamentary committee, chaired by Liberal senator Slade Brockman, concluded the proposed new law could unfairly penalise grieving people who have English as a second language.
'The committee recommends the government assess the impact of the bill on particular migrant communities, particularly in relation to funerals, to determine if there are potential negative impacts,' it said.
Grieving Australians could land themselves in jail if they pay for a lavish funeral in cash. A parliamentary committee, chaired by Liberal senator Slade Brockman, concluded the proposed new law could unfairly penalise grieving people with English as a second language
The Senate economics legislation committee released a 60-page report at 5pm on Friday detailing how Christian and Buddhist migrants in particular were vulnerable.
It accepted Australian Funeral Directors' Association national president Andrew Pinder's argument the law could 'operate harshly on elderly and migrant communities'.
'Migrant funerals are more likely to be above $10,000. Many migrant communities have burial rather than cremation, and burial is more expensive than cremation,' he told the Senate committee.
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The law would particularly affect Christian Orthodox mourners, including those for the Greek, Macedonian, Serbian, Ukrainian, Russian, Bulgarian and Egyptian communities.
Polish and Croatian Catholics and Buddhists from Vietnam and China 'have a preference for paying cash'.
'Those are the communities that will be impacted by this bill most profoundly,' Mr Pinder said.
Under proposed new laws, handing over more than $10,000 in cash to a registered business could see someone fined $25,200 or jailed for up to two years
Liberal Assistant Treasurer Michael Sukkar in September introduced the Currency (Restrictions on the Use of Cash) Bill 2019 into Parliament.
The proposed law was designed to tackle criminal syndicates.
It allowed $10,000 cash transactions for privates sales of motor vehicles but not large banknotes purchases at car dealers.
The government had originally intended to have the law come into effect on January 1, 2020 but the start date is yet to be determined, with the bill still before the Senate following an objection from One Nation leader Pauline Hanson.
