Federal fascists Gov't re-invent Australia CardFederal fascist Attorney-General Philip Ruddock says the Government has taken into account privacy issues while developing a new system to identify fraudulent documentation.
But Mr Cameron Murphy from the NSW Council for Civil Liberties says the system can be compared to the failed Australia Card - proposed by the Labor government in the 1980s - and will give your local travel agent the right to your personal details.
HoWARd's fascist Government is set to consider?, a proposal for an online verification service to allow government agencies and possibly businesses to verify documentation like birth certificates, drivers' licences and passports.
But consideration will be off the menu as soon as they take hold of the Senate no doubt!
Ruddock says that in today's environment of terrorism and money laundering, greater identity checks are required?
"It is well known that people who are involved in that sort of activity try to obtain documents that suggest that they are bona fide and we need to be able to test that from time to time," Mr Ruddock said.
"An online system in which you can test that a document hasn't been tampered with, that it is bona fide, that it has been issued by the relevant agency, is a sensible way to go."
But Community member Mr Lothar is calling for expanded community powers to combat the HoWARd Governments fascism.
He says, "Dictionaries tell us that fascism involves, "Extreme right-wing, nationalist and authoritarian systems of government and social organisation."
Almost everyone recognises the past regimes of Adolph Hitler and Benito Mussolini as totalitarian. However, few citizens of the US, Britain, or Australia, consider that their governments have yet reached such extremes." He said, "Many lines of reasoning given for increased surveillance, and for continual intrusions on individual privacy, end in the exhortation, "If you've nothing to hide, you've nothing to worry about." For example, one sequence goes like this:
* Criminals do harm to society,
* Criminals use cell phones to talk to each other,
* All cell phones need unique identifying codes, so that law enforcement officers can track criminals by their phones,
* But don't be concerned, "If you've nothing to hide, you've nothing to worry about."
This all seems reasonable to many citizens, who genuinely feel that they have nothing to hide. They consider that the surveillance is not directed at them, but only at the "bad guys" in society. However, that's not true. Anyone who thinks it through soon realises that such surveillance is a significant intrusion on citizen's privacy."
The Australian Council for Civil Liberties has expressed serious concerns about the plan, with president Terry O'Gorman saying public discussion is needed.
Mr O'Gorman says the scheme has the potential for extraordinary reach over people's private information.
"This requires legislation," he said.
"The legislation will be brought in after June, by which time the Government will have control of the Senate and unlike the Australia Card, where Senate scrutiny in fact contributed to the downfall of the Australia Card proposal, once the Government gets control of the Senate, there will be no effective Senate scrutiny."
By Verified 21 January 05
Related:
Ruddock foreshadows new terrorism laws
The new laws will allow police to access emails and mobile phone SMS messages, enable wider use of surveillance devices, and protect sensitive national security information during terrorism trials.
Community seeks more power to interrogate ASIO suspects
Greens Senator Bob Brown does not think increased police powers are necessary. "We have enormous powers for surveillance, apprehension or punishment of people who are engaged in or intending to engage in or thinking about being engaged in terrorist acts in this country," he said.
