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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1999 Week 2 Hansard (10 March) . . Page.. 533 ..

Ms Tucker: What about the two-hour bit?

MR HARGREAVES: When any car at all is stopped, the first document is actually filled in as to whether you are positive or negative. If you are one of the motorists pulled over, that document records the time and the registration. I will address that in a minute. The second document is the actual proof that you are over the limit and are going to be booked. As I said, the section 10A certificate is not signed by the motorist. In fact, in practice it is not actually filled out at the time; it is filled out at some time down the track. What is actually completed when the alcotest has been done is this statement of the informant and the approved operator. It contains all of this information. In fact, it contains a lot more. It contains the time and the location of the incident. It also talks about the time and the location of the screening test.

Mr Humphries: But you cannot hand it up without a policeman being there in the court.

MR HARGREAVES: Mr Speaker, I wish to address this issue. I do not wish to have a conversation with Mr Humphries. He has had his go and I sat here in predominant silence and listened to him. I would ask him to do the same.

Mr Humphries: Predominant silence!

MR HARGREAVES: Yes. Apart from calling you an affectionate name, Mr Humphries, I do not think I said anything.

Mr Osborne: Watch out, he might kiss you.

MR HARGREAVES: Not with his trousers down. This document also says what the subject was doing.

Mr Osborne: Keep those pants on, Mr Humphries.

MR HARGREAVES: That is a terrible thought. What actually happens when you go to court? Certainly, that document is handed up to the bench, but that in itself is insufficient to convict for a driving under the influence charge. All of these other papers are required as well, otherwise no magistrate in this town would convict anybody. This document does not say how far you are over the limit, so there is no indication of whether you are .09 or you are 2.1. There is nothing in there on that. In fact, the machine which does this test does not give you that answer with sufficient validity.

There are statistic sheets and there are all sorts of other pieces of paper which go up to the bench, but let me say this: If you are driving down the road really wobbly and you happen to be picked up by a policeman on a bike who does not have a random breath testing machine on his person, he can still require you to accompany him to the police station to undergo this test and you can front the court and be done for DUI without a section 10A certificate being completed. So, it happens only in some of the cases.

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