Our constant work to highlight the privacy and security concerns of the access card saw it temporarily stopped in its tracks in 2007, and the Labor Party has now committed to dumping it altogether – at least in its current form.
This was a key campaign issue for my office during 2007, stepping up when the first raft of legislation was introduced in February, and during the subsequent Senate committee inquiry which we fought to secure. The legislation was postponed following the Government-chaired Senate committee’s damning report, but my office kept up the campaign against it, launching a ‘No ID’ campaign through my website which included a petition; mock ID card; flyer; poster, and community survey.
Parliamentary work included a motion calling on the Government to release the full KPMG report and privacy impact assessment on the card; and numerous questions on notice about the Card through the Senate and estimates.
Our community survey results indicate that 73% of respondents were outright against the card, 79% believed that it will morph into an I.D. card and 77% were concerned that the card would lead to an invasion of privacy. Full results of the survey are set out below.
Meanwhile, Finance Minister, Lindsay Tanner, confirmed within a week of the 2007 election that the Access Card will be scrapped, based on projected costs savings of over $1 billion. The project stood to create the largest mass centralisation of personal data in Australia’s history. While its dumping is warmly welcomed, the cost justification that belies the Labor Government’s decision reflects a reluctance to commit to its abolition on principled grounds. Indeed, it was the ALP that attempted to introduce the Australia Card in the 1980s and one wonders whether a cheaper alternative will not rear itself at some stage during the Government’s term.
I will continue to keep the Government accountable on issues of privacy for the remainder of my term, including by keeping a close watch on how the Rudd Government plans to salvage the extraordinary amount of money put into the Access Card proposal.