I love our Government...
... No, really.
I'm sitting here with a little pamphlet I picked up from Medicare today when I went off to get my refund on doctor's fees. It's talking about the notion of replacing a number of different benefit entitlement cards from a range of agencies and departments (Medicare card, Centrelink health care and pensioner concession cards, DVA cards etc) with a single card. This card will have a "customisable" chip on it, and they're going to start rolling it out in 2008. Things they're planning to put onto the card already (two years out from the whole project going live) include:
They also offer the option of adding on your emergency contact details, any known allergies, your organ donor status and your date of birth.
Of course, I'm old enough to remember the fuss which blew up when the Hawke government was planning to bring in a single ID card ("The Australia Card"). Now, we have the Howard government bringing it in by stealth. The 2008 launch date is interesting too - it means that at the point we're due another Federal election, the whole process will be too far forward to halt, and any new government would have to wear it. Either way, John Howard has said (so far) that he's not planning to stand for parliament again, so he's handing the poison chalice on to either his Liberal successor, or the Labour party. Nice one, Johnny boy.
I'd just be interested in seeing this as an advertising plan (from either side):
One Card to rule them all
One Card to find them
One Card to bring them all
And in the Darkness bind them
In the land of Canberra
Where politicians lie.
(Apologies to Tolkien, but I couldn't resist).
I'm sitting here with a little pamphlet I picked up from Medicare today when I went off to get my refund on doctor's fees. It's talking about the notion of replacing a number of different benefit entitlement cards from a range of agencies and departments (Medicare card, Centrelink health care and pensioner concession cards, DVA cards etc) with a single card. This card will have a "customisable" chip on it, and they're going to start rolling it out in 2008. Things they're planning to put onto the card already (two years out from the whole project going live) include:
- Name
- Photo (digitised onto the chip, too)
- gender
- Concession status
- Children's details
They also offer the option of adding on your emergency contact details, any known allergies, your organ donor status and your date of birth.
Of course, I'm old enough to remember the fuss which blew up when the Hawke government was planning to bring in a single ID card ("The Australia Card"). Now, we have the Howard government bringing it in by stealth. The 2008 launch date is interesting too - it means that at the point we're due another Federal election, the whole process will be too far forward to halt, and any new government would have to wear it. Either way, John Howard has said (so far) that he's not planning to stand for parliament again, so he's handing the poison chalice on to either his Liberal successor, or the Labour party. Nice one, Johnny boy.
I'd just be interested in seeing this as an advertising plan (from either side):
One Card to rule them all
One Card to find them
One Card to bring them all
And in the Darkness bind them
In the land of Canberra
Where politicians lie.
(Apologies to Tolkien, but I couldn't resist).