Govt remains divided over 'smart card' plan
The World Today - Wednesday, 26 April , 2006 12:33:00
Reporter: Alexandra Kirk

ELEANOR HALL: The Federal Government remains divided over a plan to
introduce a national "smart card" to crack down on Medicare and
welfare fraud.

The card would contain a photograph and a computer chip containing the
person's Medicare number, concession status and immunisation data.

It would not include a tax file number or identity card information
such as a fingerprint, but that hasn't stemmed civil liberties
concerns and the suggestion that it would be a de facto national ID
card.

In Canberra, Alexandra Kirk reports.

ALEXANDRA KIRK: 19 years ago, the Coalition fought tooth and nail to
scuttle the Hawke Government's Australia Card plan and they succeeded.

But last year's London bombings changed John Howard's mind,
commissioning the Attorney-General Philip Ruddock to re-examine a
national identity card to help fight terrorism.

That was despite some of the Government's most senior ministers and
many backbenchers openly expressing reservations about privacy and the
ability to misuse information gathered on individuals.

In the meantime, the Government's also been considering a "smart card"
for every Australian adult to get access to Medicare payments,
subsidised prescription medicines, pensions, family payments and the
child care rebate.

Federal Cabinet is meeting in Canberra today to consider the matter.

Health Minister Tony Abbott is putting the argument for a "smart
card", saying there's no plan to put someone's entire health record on
it, just basic details like blood type and allergies, telling Channel
Nine if they're in trouble and can't tell health workers what's
happening to them, the card can help.

TONY ABBOTT: That could be the difference between life and death. So
this is not something that should scare people. It's about delivering
better services, it's about ensuring that people can't steal your
identity, it's about trying to ensure that we get better value for
taxpayers' dollars.

ALEXANDRA KIRK: The Government hasn't said how much Medicare and
welfare fraud is costing taxpayers, but some say the one billion
dollar plus price tag of a smart card would be recouped in less than
five years.

Labor says a smart card is fine, but won't support what it calls a
stalking horse for an ID card. Frontbencher Nicola Roxon.

NICOLA ROXON: Is the Government really using this as a way of
introducing an ID card by stealth?

The question that we want answered from the Government is what else
are they going to do with this card? How else is it going to be used,
who else is going to be able to demand to have it produced if you are
interacting with them?

ALEXANDRA KIRK: Putting a photograph on a smart card is also worrying
some in the Coalition it will just be an ID card by another name.

STEVE CIOBO: My concern with the introduction of a photo onto a smart
card is that that can quickly become a slippery slope of other
personal information that may not be necessary in order to ascertain
whether or not the person presenting the card is in fact the person
that they claim to be.

ALEXANDRA KIRK: Queensland Liberal MP, Steve Ciobo, is on the
Attorney-General's backbench committee.

He's a staunch advocate for a smart card to crack down on welfare
fraud but he's against any form of national identity card.

STEVE CIOBO: If the new form of Medicare card was a smart card that
contained photo ID, contained other personal medical information
etcetera and people were required to have it with them in order to
claim Medicare rebates, I would be very, very concerned by that.

I don't believe that's a path that Australia should look to go down.
Certainly, make it available and make those who are willing to use the
card be able to use the card, but by the same token we absolutely
should ensure that those that chose not to would not be required to
have it.

ALEXANDRA KIRK: Mal Brough is the Minister for Family and Community
Services and long been concerned about every taxpayer dollar being
accounted for.

MAL BROUGH: The Government has said that we will have the debate at
some stage about a… an ID, a national ID, but if we are going to go
down the path of a smart card, it would be fool hardy, I believe, not
to have a photo ID for the simple reason that that gives you the
quickest and easiest identification for people.

I heard one of my colleagues this morning talk about this issue and
said you shouldn't have things such as photo ID and you shouldn't have
addresses on such a card. We do carry those around, I might add,
everyone of us that has a driver's license. No one's suggesting that
is some sort of a substitute for a national ID card.

ALEXANDRA KIRK: Mal Brough's told The World Today the average
Australian won't be concerned about their photo being on a government
services smart card that would be needed for claiming Federal
Government payments.

MAL BROUGH: No, I don't think if we were to go down this path that the
average Australian would.

We've got so many cards now, from Medicare cards to healthcare cards
etcetera, that anything that makes our lives simpler, that ensures
that money is targeted to those who deserve it and it's aimed at, I
think would be welcomed by the majority of the Australian population.

ALEXANDRA KIRK: But the President of the Australian Council for Civil
Liberties, Terry O'Gorman, is not convinced. He says the Medicare card
works well and the argument about cutting down on welfare fraud is a
shallow selling point.

TERRY O'GORMAN: We say that the smart card is, in effect, an ID card
via the back door or via a de facto other name.

ALEXANDRA KIRK: What would make it any different to, for example, the
driver's license now which has a photo on it?

TERRY O'GORMAN: Well, simply because it will contain much more
information than simply a photograph. There are clearly a number of
Federal Government ministers who have reservations even about the
smart card and the fact that the Federal Government itself is not
unanimous about the smart card is something that I think backs our
argument that there are indeed a lot of concerns about it.

ELEANOR HALL: And that's Terry O'Gorman from the Australian Council
for Civil Liberties speaking to Alexandra Kirk in Canberra.
http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2006/s1624266.htm

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