Pauline Hanson stirs debate with radical ID call

One Nation leader Pauline Hanson has called for a drastic overhaul to our national security system, saying Australia needs a new identification scheme to curb welfare fraud across the country.

Under Ms Hanson’s proposal, every single Australian would be issued an identity card that is unlocked by their fingerprint, making it much more difficult for anyone to steal someone’s identity and defraud the system.

“Australians have always been very protective of their identity and concerned about big brother watching,” she wrote on her party’s website.

“Now is the time for us to consider introducing secure identification that cannot be stolen by others to defraud our welfare, medical, schools, pharmaceutical benefits and any other taxpayer funded service.”

While it sounds like a great way to fight bludgers who are ripping off Centrelink to some, others say it’s just another way for the government to track our every move.

Many believe that fingerprint IDs are the way of the future, but with fears over computer spying and phone tapping already swirling among some voters there are worries this could be just another way for the government to keep tabs on everyone.

However, Ms Hanson says welfare fraud is becoming too big an issue to ignore and plenty of people agree with her.

“There’s a lot of aliases out there and a lot of people are simply using their relatives’ Medicare cards when they come to Australia and that gets billed to the taxpayer. It’s common sense. People should need ID if they want to access welfare,” she told News Corp.

Malcolm Turnbull has reportedly said he is open to the idea, buts wants to look into other avenues as well.

With welfare fraud becoming such a big issue around the country, there are many who are saying it’s time we tried something as drastic as this to fix the problem.

Do you think this is a good idea? Or would it make it be too much like ‘Big Brother’ was watching? Do you think welfare fraud is a big issue in Australia?