Pauline Hanson has demanded Medicare cards carry photographic identification to crack down on “doctor-shopping” foreign fraudsters.

The One Nation leader urged the Senate to support her private bill on Monday, warning Medicare fraud was costing taxpayers millions.

“It’s about time we started to clean up our health act because the cost to the taxpayers is exorbitant, and we can’t give the people in this country the decent healthcare that they need,” she told Parliament.

The Queensland senator said people from overseas were pulling a “stunt” by applying for refugee status to obtain a bridging visa, allowing them to stay in Australia and commit fraud.