Tasmanian Liberal senator Eric Abetz says he'll support any move to ban the use of vaccine passports in Australia, even though Prime Minister Scott Morrison has described the proposal as a "good suggestion".
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Vaccine passports constitute proof of vaccination and is being hotly debated in the United States in particular.
While the US government has said it will not mandate digital vaccine passports, businesses such as sports and concert venues are demanding patrons provide evidence of vaccination.
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Senator Abetz in an email said independent crossbencher Craig Kelly had planned to bring a bill to Parliament to ban vaccine passports.
"I haven't seen the details of it as yet, but I support what it aims to achieve and if it makes it to the Senate there is every likelihood I will support it," he said.
Senator Abetz said if vaccine passports were applied to domestic travel, they could be rolled out into restaurants, theatres, and sporting events in the future.
"It would then likely become the norm with booster shots and other vaccines," he said.
"It would be hard to see such measures as anything but coercion for medical procedures and would most definitely create a permanently discriminated against cohort.
"If we allow restriction of movement between states why not within states? The precedent is unsettling."
According to the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, the vaccination passport is based on a certificate that can be downloaded to a smartphone and used like a digital driver's licence.
It features a hologram for authenticity, the name of the vaccinated person and their date of birth.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison last month flagged a vaccination passport for travel would be discussed in national cabinet, but abandoned those plans when premiers from three other states called the move premature.
"The proposal that we are talking about is not that someone would require a passport to get from one state to another," he said.
"I would have hoped that that would be a good suggestion, particularly for those living in border communities where they have been fully vaccinated and in the rather extreme situation if border arrangements were put in place by state governments."
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Political reporter for Australian Community Media, based in Hobart.
Political reporter for Australian Community Media, based in Hobart.
