Kerry Nettle (NSW, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Human Services, Senator Ian Campbell. Given that the government plans to issue 16.5 million access cards and that the card will be needed for any Australian to access medical benefits or other government services, why does the government continue to peddle the myth that the new access card is voluntary? Why won’t the minister be honest with the Australian people and admit what his own backbench is saying—that is, that it is an ID card for all Australians? Does the government acknowledge that the biometric photo and the microchip on the proposed access card will hold more information than was ever proposed with the Australia Card?