The smart card seemed like a good idea to me. Who cares if one card includes a person's legal name, date of birth, gender, address, signature, card number, card expiration date and Medicare number? Every one of those details (minus the medicare number) already appear on an Australian driver's license and passport. Not everyone today owns a passport or even drives - so it would have been beneficial for offering an accepted ID for people from all socioeconomic backgrounds. Dealing with Health services already requires a bunch of different ID's be shown and your signature. I know people were scared it's going to evolve into some Orwellian nightmare but really the smart card would have just been convenient for everyone.