From the ABC:
Federal Cabinet has approved the introduction of a smart card for all people who use Government health and welfare services.
The card will include a photograph and personal details, and will be used to access Medicare rebates and family benefits. […]
Announcing the decision, Prime Minister John Howard says the Government has decided not to continue with a proposal for a national identity card for all Australians.
So if you want to be able to claim your Medicare for going to see the doctor, you will have to have one of these cards…
I’m sure the real Prime Minister Howard will carry his everywhere.
A suggestion: whenever the real Prime Minister Howard speaks publicly, observers and news reporters should ask to see his card identity card in order that he prove that he is the real Prime Minister Howard and not an imposter.
If this happens, it won’t take long before the real Prime Minister Howard realizes that than an ID card is inconvenient, irrelevant and does nothing to increase security or simplify the management of citizen data.
I suspect Howard is rich enough to not need to claim Medicare..
For the record I think it is a bad idea, I for one do not trust any government enough to responsibly use the power that a national id system would give them.
The Register has a nice writeup too, I liked this quote..
For similar reasons to Swagy, I too abhor the ID cards, and the methods in which governments could subvert this. In Britain, my government have used national security as the reason for imposing ID cards. There has also been some sort of an auction, as to whether the card should be £30 or £500.
If ID cards were ever launched, no one should ever be forced to pay for the privilege of being themselves.
The Australian IT Section has more on this, saying: