Westpac customer calls out bank after teller's alarming question and claims they are 'punishing' him for using cash

Cautions used to prevent scams make sense but it is hard to see how the actions described below help anyone or anything. Bureaucratic stupidity would seem to be the best descriptions of them. Banks should clearly have a better appeal process for such instances

In the circumstances, I am mildly surprised that when I recently transferred a sum in excess of $10,000 to someone else I experienced no friction at all from CBA. But I did put in the note field "school fees" so that was probably calming. Expensive private school fees are well-known

An outspoken bank critic claims Westpac froze his accounts when he tried to withdraw $2,000 and would not allow the transaction until he told them what the money was for.

Author Crispin Rovere said it was only by showing the branch manager the publicity his previous run-in with Westpac generated that he was allowed access to his money.

'She then visibly panicked,' Mr Rovere told Daily Mail Australia.

However, he said he still had to wait 45 minutes before the manager came out and said the accounts were unfrozen.

'There is no conceivable explanation for this continued trespass other than seeking punish me for using cash,' Mr Rovere said.

A little more than a year ago Westpac froze his accounts when he tried to make a substantial cash deposit that was considerably less than the $10,000 threshold banks must report to the federal government.

Mr Rovere said Westpac's 'anti-fraud team' were the stumbling block on both occasions and acted dismissively when he challenged them on their right to stop him using his funds the way he wanted.

'The teller was in communication with the Westpac fraud team to get an explanation,' Mr Rovere said about the more recent funds denial.

'The fraud team demanded to know what the money was for.

'When I said it wasn't any of their business the fraud team simply replied "if you are not willing to disclose what you want the money for we will not unfreeze you accounts. Thank you for contacting us, goodbye".'

It was then that Mr Rovere had to call in the manager.

'I have since submitted another internal complaint regarding this incident but have yet to receive Westpac's reply,' Mr Rovere said.

'Last time Westpac said that it was because the deposit was made from a state other than where it was opened. 'However, this time the freezing occurred when I was physically standing in a branch in the same state as the account was opened.'

Mr Rovere accused the bank of not being truthful when it issued him a statement about the block which read 'we've detected unusual online activity on your account'.

'Westpac are straight liars,' he said. 'There was no "online activity" - I was literally standing in the branch in-person.'

Mr Rovere is promoting a petition to federal Parliament that declares 'access to banking is a human right'.

'Banks must not be allowed to deny financial services to customers unless explicitly required by law,' the petition states.

Westpac said that 'due to confidentiality obligations we are unable to comment on individual customer matters'.

'In response to the high number of scams and fraud cases, we apply extra care to ensure the safety and security of customers,' a spokesperson said.

'This might include temporarily blocking an account when unusual activity is observed so relevant checks can be carried out.'

Last week TV personality Prue MacSween told Daily Mail Australia she had a similar experience where her 100-year-old mother was denied a substantial withdrawal unless she could answer questions on what she would be doing with the money.

'It's none of their God-damn business what she wants to do with it!' MacSween said.

'It's the Spanish Inquisition if you want to go in and take out a few grand you need a letter from your blasted mother telling you why you should be allowed to have the money.

'It's just disgusting. It's your money and they are using it to make these huge profits and you have to justify why you are spending your money.

'I am offended we are all treated like we are money launderers for the simple act of wanting to take out money out.'

As further evidence of the control banks are asserting over their customers money last week Daily Mail Australia reported the Commonwealth Bank will limit customers from transferring more than $10,000 to crypto exchanges and associated websites.

A CBA spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia the move is to protect customers from scam risks by reducing the amount of money lost by customers.

The spokesperson said the bank was trying to find a balance between keeping customers safe and minimising inconvenience.

Other banks have used the same justification to impose similar blocks on certain sites, although without blanket transfer limits, and this has enraged Australia's crypto community.

Digital currency enthusiasts accused the banks of 'running scared' from a competitor that threatens to muscle in on the traditional financial industry.

'How does this actually help stop crypto scams? Blanket rules don't help anyone. Disgraceful,' crypto trader Ben Simpson posted online.

Daily Mail Australia also reported in June that the Commonwealth Bank reserves the right to stop transactions 'that in our opinion' are 'offensive, harassing or threatening to any person' or 'promotes or encourages physical or mental harm of any person'.

A bank spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia the terms were to prevent 'to address the issue of financial abuse in the context of domestic and family violence'.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12403273/Westpac-customer-calls-bank-tellers-alarming-question-claims-punishing-using-cash.html

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‘M’ is for Marxism: schools get an ‘F’ for fail

Senator Ralph Babet

Australian schools are failing our children. Instead of teaching reading, writing, and arithmetic, schools have become centres for brainwashing. From kindergarten up, children are not being educated they are being indoctrinated with the toxic lies of identity politics, Critical Race Theory, and climate alarmism.

This is due to the long march of cultural Marxists through our institutions. Unable to bring about a communist revolution in the West, cultural Marxists have slowly gained control of our universities including the teaching faculties. They have written textbooks, converted teachers, and now they are reaping the fruits of their labour with educators throughout Australia brainwashing their students.

But it’s not just our schools that are suffering. University-educated students with their neo-Marxist values make their way into the media, into the professions, and the human resource departments of corporations. Everywhere you look our institutions – the ABC, the big sporting organisations, big businesses, libraries, museums, and art galleries – are all marching to the beat of the same drum.

This is a disaster for our society. Our schools are no longer places where young Australians acquire the skills to become productive members of society and critical thinkers, they are taught to feel guilty and to be ashamed of our country.

Students are taught that Australia is a racist, sexist, white supremacist nation. They do not learn about the great achievements of Western Civilisation. Instead, they are taught that the economic, social, and environmental practices of the West are destroying life on Earth.

It’s no wonder that young Australians are so pessimistic about the future after 13 years of relentless negativity in schools.

Some are suffering from a brand new psychological disorder called ‘eco-anxiety’.

Some don’t want to have children because they believe that the world is such a terrible place.

Some are driven to drop out and start taking drugs.

Some succumb to deaths of despair.

A call is made to the Kids Helpline every 80 seconds in Australia, equating to a devastating 330,000 cries for help from children around the country every year.

Yet despite the obvious demand, most of these calls are not answered due to a lack of funding.

It’s a dire situation, according to mental health experts. Of the 328,424 young people who tried to contact the Kids Helpline in 2022, only 145,000 were connected to a counsellor. That’s just two calls connected out of every five that are received.

This is truly a tragedy. We have to stop the barrage of lies and negativity that are poisoning young people’s minds. More than one hundred thousand people choose to migrate to Australia every year because it is a beacon of freedom, democracy, and economic opportunity in a world where far too many people face poverty and oppression.

Is it any wonder that homeschooling is booming in Australia? It’s not just because of Covid. School lockdowns were an eye-opener for a lot of parents.

Supervising their children at home, parents became aware of some of the toxic or time-wasting content in the school curriculum.

As a result, registrations for home education took off in 2020.

There was a 20 per cent increase in NSW and Victoria and a 26 per cent increase in Queensland compared with the previous year.

But the trend has been on the rise in every state and territory over the last decade.

In 2011, just over 9,000 children were being educated at home. Ten years later, in 2021 there were 26,000 children registered for home education.

Young Australians need an education system that fills them with pride in this country and gives them the skills to thrive in modern Australia. It’s time that people with conservative family values demanded better in all walks of life, starting with our schools.

https://www.spectator.com.au/2023/08/m-is-for-marxism-schools-get-an-f-for-fail/

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Why we should be worried about the thought police

ROBERT GOTTLIEBSEN

Prepare yourself for the danger of an Australian 1984-style ‘thought police’ masquerading as ‘truth police’. Sadly, we need a truth disclosing force because we have entered an era where public servants, politicians and those in the private sector are embracing the habit of making misleading or untrue statements.

In recent times, misleading information has emerged via the Uluru statement summary which we discover is very different from the actual statement; renewable energy cost concealment, PwC, and so on. Accordingly, the proposed outlawing of ‘misinformation’ and ‘disinformation’ on social media looks reasonable.

But we already have a form of so-called ‘fact checking’ operating on Facebook and other parts of social media, and its performance is sending out alert signals that apply to the proposed legislation.

I emphasise that I have not conducted detailed research into the outcomes of the current ‘fact checking’ exercise, but an incident hit my desk where I was familiar with the actual facts and the so-called ‘fact checking’ looked dangerously like an exercise in political correctness.

If fact checking becomes opinion vetting then we will experience a very serious curb on public opinion via social media as ‘fact checking’ becomes a form of ‘thought police’ designed to stifle views that the government does not like or that are ‘politically incorrect’.

For example, on social media, both the ‘yes’ and the ‘no’ campaigns will be very active and presenting two entirely different set of facts.

A fully operational ‘thought police’ on social media might block opinions based on the full Uluru statement or even blocking the full statement itself, given it has been so damaging to the government supported ‘yes’ case.

My long-term readers will remember the coverage of the case brought against WorkSafe Victoria by Independent Contractors of Australia, which had asked WorkSafe to investigate 27 individuals and entities – including Victoria’s premier, former ministers, the chief health officer and the health department – for alleged breaches of the Occupational Health and Safety that allegedly led to the deaths of 801 people.

The case came before the Supreme Court and the hearings lasted almost the entire 2022.

In December, the Victorian court rejected the cases against the defendants, partly on the basis that early in the hearings, a particular document was lodged later than the court claimed it should have been. The decision was handed down just after the state election returned the Andrews government.

The declaration on timing was legally very controversial because it meant that issues raised by the case were not addressed, and had the opinion been reached early in the case, expensive legal bills would have been avoided.

The judge declared that if Independent Contractors of Australia “is not granted an extension of time, the individuals … will be freed from the not insignificant stress of potentially being subjected to prosecution for serious criminal offences which may carry lengthy terms of imprisonment”.

He added that the 20 individuals “may suffer considerable prejudice” if Independent Contractors of Australia are granted an extension of time.

Australia has WorkSafe laws that carry lengthy jail terms if the courts find there has been a breach of the act.

Although stress was not the reason why the case failed, the fact that a judge declared that in a WorkSafe case the stress of the people being sued was an issue, opens a whole new set of legal issues that may be used to block cases that carry large penalties and stress for those on trial.

On Facebook, a long debate was posted that canvassed the multitude of issues being debated. It was about opinions on the issues raised by judgement. The so-called fact-checkers shifted the opinion entry to the fact-checking section of Facebook, and then superimposed an introduction before the link.

Given this was a discussion about legal opinions, for it to be declared the subject of a fact check on political issues sets a dangerous precedent. Then to make matters worse, the so called ‘factual’ introduction contained statements that were factually incorrect, but were politically correct.

And what is of further concern is that AAP Factcheck that undertook the manoeuvre is a reputable organisation. Australian Associated Press aims to be an independent, nonpartisan Australian not-for-profit organisation.

Again it is unfair to reach conclusions on one example, but non-profit organisations need income to pay salaries and while this may simply be a mistake of judgement, it is a warning that when a fact checking organisation becomes involved in opinions, a 1984-style ‘thought police’ can emerge.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/why-we-should-be-worried-about-the-thought-police/news-story/fd49a44f358178299120389852f553ef

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Stuck in a (Covid) time warp: End of the pandemic? Or just Intermission?

Supposedly, the pandemic is over. The World Health Organisation (WHO) says it ended on 5 May. Yet the persecution of the unvaccinated continues.

Dazelle Peters, only 16 years old, has been denied a lung transplant. She suffers from an auto-immune condition and such people were excluded from the Covid vaccine trials so there is no data to support her immunisation. Indeed, at least two vaccine deaths in Australia occurred in healthy people with auto-immune conditions that were fatally exacerbated – Natalie Boyce who had antiphospholipid syndrome died after a Moderna vaccine and Roberto Garin who had cardiac sarcoidosis died after a Pfizer vaccine.

The hospital’s policy is not to perform transplants on unvaccinated people and Dazelle says she was told that if she didn’t get the jabs and caught the virus she would be a ‘major threat to everyone (in the hospital) who has done the right thing’.

Yet a report from the University of Freiburg by Reeg et al. shows ‘an impaired T cell response in solid organ transfers (SOT) following Sars-CoV-2 vaccination, with a potentially less robust development, compared to natural infection.’

Vicky Derderian, a slim 46-year-old mother of two, is trying to raise the money to get a heart transplant in India because she is being refused one in Australia. Vicky has been exempted by Australia’s Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation because she already has heart scarring from myocarditis but that’s not good enough for the Alfred Hospital in Melbourne which is denying her a transplant.

Never mind that a peer-reviewed Swiss study published on 20 July shows that 1-in-35 people who received the Moderna Covid booster had detectable heart injuries and women were almost five times as likely to be injured. The group tested was a healthy cohort with few preexisting heart problems and an average age of 37. How much worse would it be for Vicky?

Another study released this month by Marchand et al. showed that ‘Covid-19 vaccination may be associated with a small increase in cardiac-related mortality’. A study that came out in June from the prestigious US Cleveland Clinic shows that, ‘The risk of Covid-19 was lower in the “not up-to-date” group as compared to the “up-to-date” group.’ Put the two together and they show that a Covid jab makes you more likely to get Covid and more likely to die of heart trouble.

Unvaccinated people are encouraged to donate organs to others even though they are denied transplants. The wife of Garnet Harper, a 35-year-old Canadian man who died last month after he was denied a kidney transplant because he was unvaccinated was asked to donate his organs to a vaccinated person. She says the woman who made the request had no idea her husband was dying because he had been refused a transplant. Canadians opposed to persecuting the unvaccinated are calling on all Canadians to refuse to donate organs until the government ends its fatal discrimination.

But that’s not the end of the punishment in Australia. In South Australia, New South Wales and Queensland, healthcare workers are still not allowed to work unless they get vaccinated. (They are not the only ones.) In NSW, a case against vaccine mandates was lost in 2021, in Queensland, a case was heard in 2022 but no ruling has been delivered in more than 12 months. In South Australia, healthcare workers took their case to the employment tribunal in late June.

That was after the secretary of the federal Department of Health, Professor Brendan Murphy said in a parliamentary committee on 1 June, that in his view, as a clinician rather than as a public servant, Covid vaccine mandates were no longer justified.

But South Australia’s Chief Health Officer Nicola Spurrier – famous for claiming you could catch Covid from a football or a pizza box – is not for turning. Her indifference to evidence is breathtaking. The South Australian health department was forced to reveal in response to a freedom of information request from Liberal Senator Alex Antic that cardiac presentations in 18 to 44-year-old people in South Australia which remained steady at 1,100 per month from January 2018 to June 2021, drastically spiked from July 2021 to November 2021 when vaccines were rolled out to that age group, peaking at 2,172 presentations, with another spike in February when boosters were mandated. She doesn’t care. The laid-off workers, the heroes who faced Covid in 2020, are zero today.

Instead, the states that still ban unvaccinated staff are in a bidding war to attract vaccinated staff from interstate and abroad. They face dramatic shortfalls due to the thousands who have been laid off, while vaccinated workers and the general public have increased illnesses. In 2023, excess mortality is still running at 12 per cent above the baseline average.

Meanwhile, almost a thousand people have joined a class action suing the head of the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) and Professor Murphy for negligence or misfeasance in approving the vaccines which resulted in personal injury or the death of a loved one. The case which is being funded through donations is still open to be joined and will be heard next year.

The TGA’s own database shows that there have been 996 deaths reported which it is suspected were caused by the vaccine and 139,052 reports of injury. That’s one-third of all deaths reported to the TGA since the vaccines were rolled out and three-quarters of all injuries.

Meanwhile, despite promising a royal commission into the pandemic before coming to office, Labor refused to support a motion in the Senate this week by Senator Ralph Babet of the United Australia Party, to get one underway. The Liberals helped Labor out by offering pairs so that the motion was narrowly defeated. The guilty protecting each other?

Why do state and federal governments refuse to acknowledge what even Bill Gates admitted in January, that Covid jabs are ‘not infection-blocking, they’re not broad, so when new variants come up you lose protection, and they have very short duration, particularly in the people who matter who are old people’. Is it because they have entered into a partnership with Moderna giving them a massive conflict of interest? Is it because the WHO is already predicting with its spooky clairvoyance that the next pandemic bonanza is on the way? Perhaps the pandemic isn’t over, perhaps this is just intermission.

https://www.spectator.com.au/2023/08/stuck-in-a-covid-time-warp

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Also see my other blogs. Main ones below:

http://dissectleft.blogspot.com (DISSECTING LEFTISM -- daily)

http://antigreen.blogspot.com (GREENIE WATCH)

http://pcwatch.blogspot.com (POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH)

http://edwatch.blogspot.com (EDUCATION WATCH)

http://snorphty.blogspot.com/ (TONGUE-TIED)

http://jonjayray.com/blogall.html More blogs

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