Joe Hockey (North Sydney, Liberal Party, Minister for Human Services) Share this | Hansard source

Yes, and if you were here earlier you would have heard that the savings to individuals and the savings to taxpayers far outweigh the costs of implementing this project. I know it is going to be difficult for the Deputy Leader of the Opposition to grasp the details of this, but there is actually strong demand in the community for this initiative. If she asks why we are going down the route of smart card technology, perhaps she could ask her state Labor counterparts, all of whom are proceeding with smart card technology—some not so spectacularly, I might add, because they are promising projects that are far greater than are actually deliverable. The fact is that the Queensland government is rolling out a smart card drivers licence in 2008. It will probably be out there before we have our own health and welfare services access card in the marketplace.

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