Alex Antic (SA, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

If last night's aspiration-crushing budget wasn't enough with its additional billions of dollars in taxes on houses, small business and farms, then let me, sadly, add another layer of doom and gloom to Labor's line items. One which might actually not have taken a lot of attention and scrutiny was the $654.3 million over four years to meet its legislative commitments under the Digital ID Act 2024. That's $366.2 million up from the $288.1 million which was promised last year. That seems odd to me. It seems like a lot of money for a scheme that was meant to be voluntary.

Didn't Senator Katy Gallagher say to us that it was going to be voluntary? Didn't she, on 19 December 2023 in a speech launching the public consultation on the exposure draft, say:

An essential aspect of Digital ID is that it continues to be voluntary for individuals accessing government services.

…   …   …

Even with a Digital ID you opt-in to Digital ID and choose each and every time you use it.

Didn't she, on 30 November 2023, in a joint media release introducing the bill, say:

Digital ID is a secure, convenient, voluntary, and inclusive way for Australians to verify their ID online.

Then, in a tweet from around 1 December 2023, didn't she say:

Digital ID is not compulsory.

It's a voluntary, secure & convenient way for you to access online services safely without having your personal documents stored by 3rd parties—

very reassuring! On 27 March 2024 in a media release after the bill had passed, didn't Senator Katy Gallagher say:

Digital ID is a secure, convenient, and voluntary way to verify who you are online …

It seems like $654.3 million is a lot of money allocated to your voluntary scheme, Minister.