The Wire

Today the Federal Government announced that Senator Chris Ellison will take over as the new minister for Human Services, making him the third head of the portfolio in as many months. The portfolio has responsibility for the National Access Card, which is today the subject of committee hearings. The card has dogged by controversy and allegations that its a National Identity card in disguise. In fact the Labor oppositon has argued that the enabling legislation for the $1.2 billion Access card scheme is simply being rushed through parliament to avoid public scrutiny, and they say they will scrap the scheme if it wins the next election.