my letter to john howard

To the Parliament of Australia.

WHY create more dissidents than there are already?

For the past 60 or so years, have been a quiet, law abiding citizen with a deep love and respect for Australia and its people.

Am a peaceable sort of bloke, so I swallowed my annoyance and accepted the GST, swallowed my amazement and anger over the decision to support a CORRUPT and dangerous AMERICAN ADMINISTRATION and send troops to Iraq (we all KNOW it was based on DECEPTION - not lies - DECEPTION - and based on GREED for Oil. Forget all this garbage about spreading 'freedom' and 'democracy'), but this notion of an ID card for Australians is TOO MUCH.

WHY should I have to add another shackle against my rapidly disappearing freedoms and privacy? WHY should I have to PAY for the STUFF-UPS and BUNGLES of a dysfunctional Dept. of Immigration? That is YOUR RESPONSIBILITY Mr. Howard - not mine. (You weren't told? Then WHO - apart from Washington - IS running this country? At the moment you appear to be the S.W. Pacific Branch Manager for Consolidated Multinationals Corporation.)

Many people have a driver's licence. Does it prevent people from speeding or crashing - NO.
Many people have a TAX FILE NUMBER. Does it prevent fraud - NO.
Many people have passports. Does that prevent forgery - NO.
Would an ID card prevent a determined individual creating mayhem - NO.
If they are spread to the four winds - Would it CATCH them afterward - NO.

Perhaps I am getting a little old and somewhat daft, and miss the logic. IF I am found wandering in the street, vague and incoherent WITHOUT ANY IDENTIFICATION whatsoever, I fail to see how 19 million OTHER ID cards will help - especially since there appears to be a culture of "cover up" within YOUR departments. But AH, FINGERPRINTS, I hear you say. SINCE WHEN did I become a Criminal suspect?? Do I have to trot along to the local copshop and record them? When? Once a year - month - week?? Am I soon to expect the Uzi toting Black Balaclava men in Flak Jackets banging on MY door to conduct "random" searches under the bed for semtex?? Bah, Humbug.

Biometrics?? Forget ID cards .. why not TATTOO OUR EARS and IMPLANT MICROCHIPS - it works with CATS. Identifies dead people, or parts thereof. Then you can convert the Supermarket Scanners, Airport walk throughs to read them. Add GPS. Track our every movement.

BUT, um, perhaps that also has loopholes. Creates a new trade in Body Parts and Microchip exchange.

Why not skip all that. SAVE TIME, SAVE MONEY! (thought that'd get yer attention)

Why not PUT ME IN Baxter NOW! .. on off chance that somehow, perhaps, maybe, sometime in the distant future I may, vaguely, have the SLIGHT potential to become a dissident, a criminal or - god forbid! - a TERRORIST!!

WHY DO YOU NOT TRUST ME, Mr Howard?????????????

Are you infected with the same PARANOIA infecting the current American administration.???

I always thought that AUSTRALIA, and AUSTRALIANS were BETTER and more sensible than that.