Roy Heather: Social Security (Entitlement Cards) Amendment Bill — In Committee 
Roy Heather: Social Security (Entitlement Cards) Amendment Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:639;Page:9151] 
HEATHER ROY (Deputy Leader—ACT) 
: 
 I would like to talk about the amendments that I have before the Committee. 
I have indicated to the Clerk that I will withdraw Supplementary Order Paper 110. When we came to vote on it it would have been ruled out of order. The Minister Winston Peters’ amendment would have come first and as a result mine would have been ruled out of order. 
I have submitted a separate amendment which is an amendment to the Minister’s amendment on Supplementary Order Paper 111 to clause 5. It omits from the proposed substituted section 132A(2) the wording “or a microchip embedded in them”. The effect will be exactly the same but the process will be somewhat different and my amendment to the Minister’s amendment will be voted on first. 
I also have a second amendment that I want to put forward in case at the end of this debate we are left with microchips—a terrible thought I know. Should that be the case I want to put some safeguards around the use of microchips particularly in light of the Privacy Commissioner’s comments to me yesterday about the use of microchips. The amendment adds subclause (3) to clause 5 and reads: “Any highly functional technology (including microchipping technology) used for the purpose of human identity verification under subsection (2) must comply with approved international privacy guidelines.” I think it is very very important that this happens and is followed so that proper process is gone through and we end up with the right sort of microchip not only in this card but in any card that might be established under the Social Security Act. 
I would like to address a couple of points made by previous speakers. Judy Turner said that this issue was very safe in light of this particular card. That may well be the case. The advice we received from the officials was that there were not very many concerns about perhaps this bill. But my point is that this amendment is not just about the SuperGold card; it is an amendment to the Social Security Act and it will mean that microchips can be added to other cards. 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: No no where’s the amendment for that? 
HEATHER ROY 
: Mr Peters might like to shout from his chair but if he likes to take a call of his own then he can give the Committee his point of view. In fact he is wrong. 
It is very sad I think that both United Future and Taito Phillip Field have decided not to support my amendment. Those members have spoken very strongly against the use of microchips and have the same concerns that I have about them. What we are seeing in this Committee sadly is that support for Mr Peters is more important to them than the importance of privacy issues to our senior citizens. It is a sad day in this Chamber when their concerns are ignored. Those senior citizens include veterans who have fought for the freedoms we enjoy today; it is sad that their privacy can so easily be taken from them. If microchips with no type no specification of type and no specification of function can be inserted into law and passed through this House it is a very sad day indeed. 
The reason I have put my amendment forward is not as others on the other side of the Committee have suggested voodoo politics and the like; it is because I care about the privacy of our senior citizens. I worry that what Marie Shroff the Privacy Commissioner has said might happen and let me quote from an email she sent me yesterday: “There is the potential with microchips for function creep where the card ends up being used for far more than was originally intended.” It is all very well specifying what is going to be on this microchip but what— 
R Doug Woolerton 
: What about the banks? 
HEATHER ROY 
: Mr Woolerton is quite right; the banks need to be involved in this sort of discussion too because function creep can happen with their microchips. We have never properly had a discussion in public about the parameters around what microchips can contain. 
Function creep is where the card ends up being used for far more than was originally intended. Marie Shroff also said that security is a real issue both for the data stored on the cards and for the risk of identity theft. She spelt it out in black and white—identity theft. She also commented that a possible microchipped SuperGold card has some far-reaching implications that need to be explored thoroughly before a final decision is made. How much clearer could a Privacy Commissioner be about an issue? She wants this issue debated publicly and explored thoroughly and that has not happened in this debate. She wants those issues addressed before anything happens. SuperGold cards should be something that senior citizens and veterans could look forward to.