The Digital ID Bill Passes the Senate By James Reed

The Albo government's Digital ID Bill has passed the Senate. Apart from the Labor Senators, Senators from the Australian Greens, as well as Jacqui Lambie, Tammy Tyrrell, David Pocock, and David Van, supported the Bill, while the Liberal National Coalition, One Nation, and the United Australia Party opposed the Bill. Senators Canavan, Babet, Roberts, Antic, and Rennick championed the opposition. Unfortunately, that was not enough.

Now the really big fight is on, the endgame, as the Bill moves to the House of Representatives. This is where it must be defeated, so actionists need to contact their representatives and demand that they vote against the Bill, even if one is dealing with the Labor Party. While the Albo government says that the Digital ID will be voluntary, expect organisations not to hold to that, so that by a process of gradualism, it becomes universal. This must be firmly opposed.

https://nationfirst.substack.com/p/the-dark-shadow-of-digital-id

"This was despite an army of awake and aware citizens bombarding their Senators with phone calls.

Citizen warriors for freedom were unknowingly screaming into the void for a halt to these bills, as the deafening silence of avoidance drowned out our voices.

In many instances, neither the Senators nor their staff bothered to pick up their phones and take a call because they just did not want to hear from the public!

In the end, we were badly let down by those in the Australian Greens who, only weeks before, had told us that the Digital ID bills could not be passed without implementing necessary privacy protections.

We were also let down by Senators Jacqui Lambie and her Tasmanian running mate Tammy Tyrrell, David Pocock, as well as former Victorian Liberal-turned-independent David Van, who all sided with Labor to vote for the Digital ID bills.

Victorian independent Lidia Thorpe was missing in action for the vote.

The Liberal Nation Coalition, One Nation, and the United Australia Party were opposed.

Of special note were warrior Senators Matthew Canavan, Ralph Babet, Malcolm Roberts, Alex Antic, and Gerard Rennick who have led the charge against the Digital ID bills.

As you well know the Digital ID bills aren't just about some identity system.

Rather, they are a massive leap towards an Orwellian nightmare where every piece of our personal information gets centralised, digitised, and ripe for the picking.

Despite various amendments made to the proposed Digital ID scheme in the Senate yesterday, there is still potential for law enforcement agencies to go snooping into our lives, our biometric data can be accessed, and then there's the ever-looming spectre of surveillance.

They've also dressed their Digital ID scheme up as 'voluntary,' but let's cut through the bull: with a host of exemptions combined with the potential for 'function creep,' there will be instances where both public and private services cannot be accessed without a Digital ID.

The reality is that this Digital ID sham will morph into a digital leash, yanking away our freedoms, our privacy, and even our access to basic services, employment, and social welfare.

But the battle's not over.

These bills still have to make their way through the House of Representatives.

And, yes, the government has got the numbers in that legislative chamber, but the fat lady hasn't sung yet!

Contact your local Federal Member of Parliament today, especially if you live in a seat held by Labor.

Ask for a face-to-face meeting with the politician, not a chat with their gatekeeper over the phone.

Don't take no for an answer.

Look the politician in the eye and tell them you don't want to hear their reasons for the Digital ID bills but that, as they are your representative, you want them to vote against it.

Remember: This isn't just a fight for privacy; it's a stand for our basic rights.

And we should not let our nation's future be a digital dystopia without fighting it every step of the way."