The press likes to present itself as an advocate of people’s freedoms; certainly vis a vis the state, the Fourth Estate proports to be the people’s friend. But many of the state’s urges to control and dominate it’s citizenry strikes a chord with elements of the media, and this editorial from the Sydney Morning Herald is remarkable. The remarkable feature is that ID Cards have not actually been on the government agenda in Australia. The effect of this article is to actually put ID cards on the public agenda, rather then respond to a government initiative.
For all the repudiation of Big Brother that defeat of the Australia Card supposedly symbolised, Australians do not know the extent of state surveillance of their everyday lives today. Surveillance of their financial arrangements is more exact and accessible than ever before. In the vacuum since the 1987 debate on the merits and demerits of a compulsory ID system, we are not to know whether Australian sentiment has changed. It is likely though that we will soon get the chance to find out.
What is extraordinary is that the SMH, a supposedly liberal minded journal, seems determined to put ID cards on the agenda. It is true that the editorial did not advocate an ID card system, but nor did it condemn it. An extraordinary state of affairs.
The Government has been very clever in the manner that they have steered the media into concentrating on only the privacy issue. Now though this matter of invasion of privacy is a concern there is a far greater area of concern. It becomes more apparent when you study the old Bill introduced in 1987. In that Bill the primary purpose of the card was and I believe will be once more is the ease with which this Bill allows your identity to be removed from the database (cancellation of the card).
So the real problem is one of total control by the Government upon anyone whom they wish. Don’t believe me visit http://www.an-m.net/AuID.htm and see for yourself what our politicians are really after. TOTAL CONTROL