Senate Committee forces backdown on National Access Card

A red flag from the Senate Finance and Public Administration Committee saw the Government raise - at least temporarily - a white flag on the National Access Card project.

As suggested in a recent item here, Senator Mason and his colleagues in their report on the Human Services (Enhanced Serivce Delivery) Bill, said there were so many problems with the timing and limited detail provided that it all came down to one single recommendation - go back to the drawing board, and bring forward at a later time a comprehensive piece of legislation that would enable proper consideration by the Parliament.

The new Minister for Human Services, Senator Ellison, responded to the report within hours. His predecessors having emphasised the need for urgency to get the first bill passed, the Minister now says it's reasonable that both tranches of legislation be brought together to allow all interested parties to see the full detail of the proposal. He added, hopefully, that this would "help dispel some misconceptions".

The issue has finally become a very hot political potato. It could prove to be even more expensive than anticipated given the fact that the Government has been moving to let tenders which may now need some adjustment.