TLDR: If you want to pass these around as part of a sovereign citizen/freeman on the land/other pseudo-legal belief system: Don't do it. We're not going to have a discussion about that here as it would breach the Community Guidelines.
At their heart, promissory notes are dressed up versions of another type of document - an I.O.U. They are a formalised promise to pay, which only need a few things be 'valid':
- Certainty as to who the payer/promiser is;
- Either a clear identification of who the payee/promisee is, or a clear statement that the payee may be the 'bearer' of the note;
- Indication that it is payable on demand, on a specific date, or a date which is capable of being determined on the face of the note;
- The sum of money it relates to;
- Whether any interest is payable on the sum of money; and
- The signature of the payer/promiser.
In essence, a cheque is a form of promissory note (albeit a particular type, covered in its own part of the Bills of Exchange Act).
For the older types around, you could liken the catchphrase of Wimpy from Popeye to a verbal promissory note: "I'll gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today." It's a promise to pay in the future for something that can be quantified today.
There are a variety of problems with promissory notes which can make them unsuitable:
- If they're too complex. Once you start adding conditions they're no longer a promissory note and become something else, like a loan agreement.
- Their use is regulated - depending on the use. Want to trade in promissory notes? If there's any form of charge involved, that could make it a form of regulated credit, for which a license is needed (although there is an exemption from this in the case of authorised deposit-taking institutions under the National Credit Code).
- Their worth is only as good as the paper it’s written on. Just because someone promises to pay, it doesn't mean that they can. What if the note is rejected? What if they don't have the funds to pay it? Consider a cheque. If you use it in the valid format, the bank will pay it out - so long as there is sufficient money in the account. That might have been the case when the cheque was written, but may no longer be the case when it is presented for payment. There are no guarantees; cheques can 'bounce'. That's why a lot of places don't take cheques. You can sue on a bounced cheque, but it's still a hassle. Promissory notes are going to be less secure. They operate on a basis of trust between the parties. What about security? Well, then you're straying into it being a loan and not a promissory note because you're attaching conditions.
So, looking at your given example....
- Does it meet the criteria for a promissory note? It looks like it. Low bar to get over though.
- Is there too much? Maybe. That would take further consideration of all the factors surrounding it. For example - the 'negotiable instrument to be financially traded on' - could be a big red flag.
- Would I accept it? No. And there's no requirement for anyone to accept a promissory note.
- Then there is the big kicker: "Underwritten by: The One People's Public Trust, 1776...." For a start, The One People's Public Trust (TOPPT for short) is an 'entity' which appears to be attached to the pseudo-legal beliefs in and around sovereign citizens. Those beliefs are delusional and incorrect and, importantly, discussing them is a breach of the Community Guideline of this forum - so we're not going there.
That aside, the TOPPT is not an Australian registered entity that I can see. So ‘enforcing’ payment against them is going to be difficult to impossible from Australia. It would be worse than accepting a cheque drawn on a foreign bank which doesn’t exist in Australia.
More importantly, as far as I can see, TOPPT is not an entity with a financial services licence – an AFSL - (or an authorised representative of such a licensee). While issuing promissory notes is excepted from requiring an AFSL, I would expect that underwriting a promissory note is an activity that requires an AFSL. Providing a financial service without a licence will get you hit with the regulatory hammer.