Need to renew your passport? The weird history of Australian passports explains how they got so expensive
- Written by David Lee, Associate Professor of History, UNSW Sydney

Now borders are open, Australians are applying for and renewing passports in droves. Wait times have doubled.
The cost of the Australian biometric passport and the rigour involved in obtaining one can be traced to Australia’s participation in an international passport system that evolved over the past century.
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