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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1998 Week 4 Hansard (24 June) . . Page.. 904 ..

MR HUMPHRIES (continuing):

effective crossmatching of those samples will lead to a much higher rate of solving serious crimes. While DNA sampling offers law enforcement agencies a technological solution to their problems, it will work only when combined with other enforcement methods, such as good policing, fingerprints and intelligence. It is not a replacement for any of these. The system of creating a DNA database is, in my view, no different to the creation of a national fingerprint index. It is using technological developments to help solve serious crimes which may otherwise go unsolved.

The meeting also discussed the national heroin supply reduction strategy, but at this point the ACT Government is not yet in a position to endorse the strategy while more work is undertaken between my agencies and Mr Moore's department.

The council resolved to monitor closely work being undertaken by the Austroads road safety panel on drugs and driving, noting that there is police involvement in those deliberations. It is clear that more work needs to be done on a scientific basis for driving under the influence of drugs to be defined. For example, it is established that a driver's level of impairment, at an alcohol content of 0.05, is sufficient to be regarded as driving under the influence of alcohol. But some illicit and prescription drugs can also seriously impair driving.

Mr Berry: Gary, they are going to stay here whether you try to bore the pants off them or not.

MR HUMPHRIES: This is important, Mr Berry. Whether you think so or not, these are very important issues.

Mr Berry: They are important issues, yes.

MR HUMPHRIES: The problem is that, for example, we know that cannabis remains detectable in the bloodstream for a considerable time, but its effects and at what levels to determine "influence" are much harder to identify. Someone who smoked cannabis one month ago may still show traces in the bloodstream, but would no longer be under the influence. In addition, those levels will differ for other types of drugs. And to complicate matters further, the process used to identify the presence of drugs is often highly invasive, such as a blood test, and cannot be the subject of random roadside checks, like random breath testing.

Mr Speaker, Ministers expressed their desire to see information-sharing constraints between Commonwealth law enforcement agencies and overseas agencies reduced in an effort to ensure that the Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs has access to all relevant information before granting a visa to a person to enter Australia. The concern was raised by the New South Wales Government after a recent incident where an overseas visitor with a serious criminal history was admitted to Australia with a visa and proceeded allegedly to commit a serious criminal offence for which he is in custody awaiting trial. While I understand this concern, the issue is a difficult one because it is possible for some foreign nationals to easily and cheaply obtain forged papers to indicate they have no criminal records. These papers are often not readily verifiable,

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