Pubdate: Fri, 02 Jun 2000 Source: Sydney Morning Herald (Australia) Copyright: 2000 The Sydney Morning Herald Contact: GPO Box 3771, Sydney NSW 2001 Fax: +61-(0)2-9282 3492 Website: http://www.smh.com.au/ Forum: http://forums.fairfax.com.au/ Author: Joseph Kerr CRIME AUTHORITY MAY LOSE 50 STAFF The National Crime Authority could be forced to sack up to 50 people when funding for the Prime Minister's national drugs strategy ends in 2003. The NCA's funds for implementing the national drugs strategy - about $8.8 million a year - is slated to end after the 2002-03 financial year. The operations manager of the NCA, Mr Peter Lamb, told a Senate estimates committee this week the cut would leave the NCA in the state it was before the introduction of the special funding. Mr Lamb said up to 50 positions could be lost if the funding was not renewed, although he said the Government had extended a separate funding program to fight money laundering. The Justice Minister, Senator Vanstone, said the $8 million was a specific program targeting importation of illicit drugs. She said the Government only prepared budgets a few years in advance and had not gone beyond the 2002-03 year. Senator Vanstone warned this week of the perils posed by cybercrime and money-laundering in the Internet age. "The Internet enables illicit funds to be transferred around the world at the touch of a button, virtually without trace and without the criminal having to put in a personal appearance," she said. "It makes life easy for drug traffickers, under-the-counter arms dealers and other criminals." Senator Vanstone said the way to solve such crimes was to track their proceeds. The Opposition justice spokesman, Mr Duncan Kerr, said the Government was not doing enough to fight cybercrime. He said only $2 million had been specifically allocated to fight it in the recent Budget, which was a tiny amount compared to what the United States and Britain had spent. The service delivery manager for the NCA, Mr John Hartley, also told the Senate the authority's budget for "understanding the criminal environment" - part of its overall funds for responding to organised crime - had been cut by $1.2 million. But Mr Hartley said the reduction would not necessarily affect services. - --- MAP posted-by: Derek Rea