Government looks at high-tech passport test

By EUGENE BINGHAM and KEVIN TAYLOR

The passport system may be beefed up to include sophisticated biometric tests in the wake of the arrest of two suspected Israeli agents accused of trying to obtain a fake New Zealand identity.

Internal Affairs passport manager David Philp said yesterday that the department was looking at ways of tightening the system.

"We are doing some work on biometric systems to see whether we can ensure that a person has only one passport," he said.

"I don't want to comment on the detail of what we are developing, but we do continue to look for new ways of mitigating the risks of fraud."

Mr Philp also indicated that the department was carrying out audits to see if any other passports had been obtained using similar methods to those allegedly employed in the case before the court.

Two Israeli men believed by senior Government figures to be secret service agents appeared in the Auckland District Court last week charged with attempting to obtain a passport in the name of a wheelchair-bound cerebral palsy sufferer.

A third man, Zev William Barkan, is on the run, having fled the country. His photo appeared on the passport application.

Mr Philp said there was no evidence to suggest any other passports had been issued to Barkan under other fake identities.

An Internal Affairs spokesman said New Zealand's passport was one of the best in the world, with world-class security features including an embedded photograph.

But ironically, that would make it attractive to international fraudsters.

"Fraudsters who want the benefits of a good passport are more likely to target this type of document," said the spokesman.

Prime Minister Helen Clark told a post-Cabinet press conference yesterday that the Government took any threat to the passport system "extremely seriously" and would do whatever was necessary to safeguard its integrity.

"It's important to put on record that the Department of Internal Affairs detected this fraud, which gives me a lot of confidence.

"Notwithstanding that, we intend to have another look to see if there are areas where passport issuing could be strengthened," she said.

"In the international climate post-September 11th, everyone wants to know their systems are good. In this case it was, but I think it is timely to have another look."

Helen Clark said an "extraordinarily high" proportion of New Zealanders held passports compared with citizens of other countries, and the department dealt with hundreds of thousands of applications.

"So there's quite a lot to look at, but they are certainly examining whether this was the tip of the iceberg or a one-off," she said.

"This is an attempted fraud which was detected. What we now can learn from that is a little about the modus operandi of those who seek to defraud the passport system, so we need to think, are there things we could be doing in the normal certification of passport applications and photos which we are not doing?

"We could well examine whether other countries have tightened up recently, and what we might learn from that."

During a rare media briefing last month, SIS director Richard Woods said three people were denied citizenship - and therefore the chance to apply for a passport - in the 2002-03 year because of security concerns.

He said having citizenship allowed an applicant to obtain a New Zealand passport, which was an "immensely valuable document" because the holder could travel without attracting much attention.

Helen Clark yesterday rejected any suggestion that New Zealand might be viewed overseas as a soft touch. But, referring to Mr Woods' comments, she said a New Zealand passport was valuable to have.

"That in itself might make it a target for those who want to misuse another country's passport.

"What comforts me is that an Internal Affairs officer - and then his colleagues - were alert to the possibility of this being a fraudulent application."

The department said it placed a high emphasis on careful vetting of applications.

Applicants for new passports are checked electronically using birth and citizenship records and all applications are checked against death registers.

New Zealand First law and order spokesman Ron Mark yesterday called for retrospective checks to ensure the international integrity of the passport system. Recent incidents emphasised that people would not hesitate to fraudulently use NZ passports for criminal ends.

Fraud proof

* New Zealand passports may be updated to include biometric features.

* Biometrics uses personal characteristics such as fingerprints, iris or voice recognition to confirm identity.

* The International Civil Aviation Organisation agreed last month on a standard that would require all newly issued electronic passports to have space for biometrics.