September 28, 2022
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TONY JONES: The Optus debacle, I guess, is presenting a new spanner in the works for the passport office. Thousands of passport details have been compromised because of this hack. Now there have already been reports of people replacing their current passport. If you're an Optus victim, I want to know, are you going to change your passport? Will you change your Medicare details? What options are you considering to protect your identity?
Our next guest is calling on the federal government to provide new passports for Optus victims. To explain, we're joined on the line by Senator James Paterson, the Shadow Minister for Cyber Security, also, of course, a Liberal Senator here in Victoria. Good morning, Senator.
JAMES PATERSON: Good morning, Tony.
JONES: Well, I tell you what, I'm not entirely sure where to start. We know that the state government came out last night and said, yes, they're going to replace licences
for free, but they'll be sending a bill of course over to Optus. So, what system do you want to actually transpire here for passport renewals?
PATERSON: Tony, yesterday in Senate Question Time I asked the Foreign Minister Penny Wong what she would do to expedite the processing and waive the fees for Australians whose passport numbers have been compromised in the Optus hack. And she responded that it was a good question, and that the Government was looking at this.
But last night I went on the passports.gov.au website and looked at the Frequently Asked Questions and found that it said if you choose to replace your passport, you'll have to pay the application fee. And it went on to say when asked, “why do I have to pay to replace my passport when this wasn't my fault?” The department says, “we weren't responsible for the data breach.”
This is just not good enough. These people have been victims already. They shouldn't have to pay nearly $200 to cancel and get a new passport, and they shouldn't have to wait months to get it either. Now, I'd be very happy for the federal government to send the bill to Optus too. I think Optus should pay. But the federal government needs to get organised in the same way that the Victorian government has, the New South Wales government has, the Queensland government has. Why hasn't the federal government done the same?
JONES: But why isn't it an actual national response here? This is the same as what we saw in the pandemic and it really is a failure of federal governments, whether it be yours or the current federal government. Why is it a state-by-state thing? Why is it a state-by-state thing? Why can't we just all come under the one umbrella when it comes to crises like the one we're experiencing at the moment with Optus customers?
PATERSON: Well, that's a fair question that you asked, Tony, and I remember when this government was in opposition, when the Labor Party was in opposition they were very critical of the previous federal government for not doing enough of that even though Scott Morrison tried by establishing the National Cabinet to kind of herd those cats. Has Anthony Albanese called a National Cabinet meeting to deal with this issue? Are they even talking to the states about the cross-border issues that relate to identification? There is no evidence of that at all. There's no evidence on leadership from the federal government at all.
JONES: Yeah, okay, let's not try to politicise it too much here because people are sort of, you know, that's the least of their concerns at the moment. They're just trying to protect their identity. And I like the idea that you've come up with. I like the question that you raised in the Senate, but how are we going to make it happen? I mean, what was that response that you mentioned before from the department just sort of saying, hey, it's not our problem?
PATERSON: So, if you go to the Frequently Asked Questions section of the passports.gov.au website, it has a special section on the Optus data breach. It tells you that if you choose to replace your passport, you'll have to pay. And it says in response to a question, “why do I have to pay to replace my passport when this wasn't my fault?” that quote; “we weren't responsible for the data breach.” Well, of course the federal government wasn't responsible for the data breach. That is Optus' responsibility, but it's up to the federal government, like the state governments have done, to organise for Optus to have to pay to arrange those passports provided free. Right now, they're saying if you go, if you've lost your passport number in this hack, as an Australian, as a victim of the Optus attack, you're going to have to pay and that's just not good enough.
JONES: The other problem, I guess, James, is that there are so many people and, I mean, Neil's inbox – the ianmitchell@3aw.com.au – is in overload at the moment with people saying, hey, I applied for a new passport back in June and I'm still waiting. We've spoken to people who've lost thousands of dollars because their passports didn't come back in time. So, what happens to those people? I mean, who gets the priority here? Because on face value, it should be the customers who are potentially being hacked.
PATERSON: Well, the new Albanese government has said it was going to fix this issue, has said it was going to turn this around. But I'm still dealing with constituents almost every day, certainly every week who have imminent flights who applied for a passport months ago, well after the federal election, and they still haven't received it. And they're very anxious about missing their flights or, as you say, even losing thousands of dollars in holiday bookings. So, it's really up to the government to put all the resources necessary behind this to make sure that it happens because...
JONES: But what's your answer? But James, you've raised it. What's your answer? Who should get priority here? And what happens to those people who've been waiting two or three months for a passport under your model? What would be the situation?
PATERSON: Well, anyone who has to travel imminently must be the priority because they're the person who's going to not be able to travel if they don't have a passport. And the government needs to have an effective triage system to make sure those people are prioritised, whether they've been waiting for months because they applied months ago to travel or whether they are an Optus victim, anyone who's travelling imminently should be the priority.
JONES: Okay, well, it's as I say, it's something that needs to be done. Certainly, happening with drivers licences around the country, most of the country anyway. So hopefully the passport office can fall into line. And, you know, I mean, no one's asking the federal government to foot the bill. At the end of the day, it all comes back to Optus. So good luck with it. And let's stay in touch.
PATERSON: Thanks, Tony. Cheers.
JONES: Thank you. Senator James Paterson joining us there, the Shadow Minister for Cyber Security.
ENDS
