Good morning fellow colleagues. In the wake of the recent terrorist attacks in London, which I am sure you have all heard about, many organisations worldwide including the government of Australia, have proposed a variety of methods to combat the growing wave of terrorist attacks. One of the major ideas put forward which I found interesting, is the introduction of identification cards. Today I am going to present to all of you, an evaluation on this proposal. As you can see from the overhead, my article is from The Age written by William. I have divided my talk into 3 sections, namely, the basis for the introduction of ID cards, the pros and cons of such a system and finally, my opinions and recommendations on the issue. The presentation will last for approximately 6 minutes. If you have any questions, please save them until the end of my talk, when I will be most happy to answer them.
English: Bulgarian ID card
Frontside of ID card issued in Taiwan
Backside of ID card issued in TaiwanAllow me to give you some background information on this topic. This is not the first time that the Australian government has proposed introducing ID cards. The last time this was seriously considered, was back in the 1980s, where the government sought the ID cards as a means of tackling tax evasion. But due to various reasons, the proposal never really took off. What has really changed since? What has become so radically different that the prime minister of Australia, Mr John Howard, who ironically opposed the idea back then, to change his stance on the this issue? Well, the most notable changes have come in national security and biometric technology. People fearful about security and personal safety now look upon ID cards as an essential tool for preventing terrorism. Recent surveys conducted reveal that many people are in favour of a...