"We need to facilitate trade and yet secure our borders," Harrison said during a presentation at an identity management summit in Sydney. "In the past our systems were siloed and we've combined that into one system. It's a very large undertaking."

Rather than attempt to modernize existing legacy systems, Harrison said CMR was built from the ground up, including the backend.

"It's not lipstick on a pig, it is a real-time Web-based system that operates 24x7," he said, adding the system now has as much public scrutiny as a bank's ATM network. "The difference is it's a real-time system so you get an answer [whether] you can import goods in minutes. The system itself is a first in the e-business world."