Michelle Landry (Capricornia, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I am pleased to rise today and join my colleagues to talk about the Transport Security Amendment (Serious or Organised Crime) Bill 2016. I congratulate my friend and colleague the Hon. Darren Chester on his appointment as Australia's new federal Minister for Infrastructure and Transport. I look forward to hosting the minister in his new role in my electorate of Capricornia again very soon.

Capricornia is a vast area with many access points by sea and by air. The amendments we are reflecting on today are an important measure to safeguard our nation, people, agriculture and industries from the impact of organised crime.

In the past, a number of reviews have revealed that serious and organised criminals have been exploiting secure maritime and aviation ports for criminal purposes. Our amendments aim to stamp that out. Currently, anyone who has regular access to secure areas at Australia's regulated airports or seaports is required to hold either an aviation or a maritime security identification card. This bill ensures that people with a relevant criminal history can never receive such a security clearance to work at any Australian airport or seaport. In doing so, we are delivering on our coalition's policy to tackle crime.

This marks a big point of difference between our solid Turnbull-Joyce government and a chaotic Labor Party. Under Labor, people with a criminal history were able to get a security clearance to work at ports and airports where cargo comes in and out of our country. On some occasions, these workers were found to be acting corruptly by aiding criminals and facilitating illegal smuggling operations. This allowed for narcotics and dangerous drugs to enter Australia more easily via seaports and airports.

In December 2015, our government's National Ice Taskforce reported a substantial increase in ice imports to Australia in recent years, mainly via our airports and maritime ports. In fact, over five tonnes of ice was seized at the Australian border from 2010 to 2015. Alarmingly, there is a growing trend of ice use in regional Australia, and this must be appropriately addressed. Tighter security procedures at our airports and shipping terminals will help to crack down on ice trafficking. Banning criminals from obtaining work passes on these sites will also help.

Last year, I was pleased to facilitate a high-profile ministerial hearing in Rockhampton to discuss the local impact of ice in my electorate of Capricornia. It was attended by the Minister for Rural Health. Local ambos, the front-line medicos who help us in an emergency, described the fear and danger of treating young people who are high on ice in the streets. And, sadly, parents described the devastating impact of ice on their children. They described how the behaviour of a teenager hooked on ice also harms siblings and family members. Crystal methamphetamine is a significant issue for Central Queensland. I was shocked to learn that ice was more commonly used in regional and remote areas like mine and has even made its way into some primary schools in the country. One delegate, who operates a rehabilitation service in Rockhampton, told of how he was inspired to help because his own daughter was an ice addict. Local police say that ice addicts account for violent crimes, armed hold-ups and break-ins to obtain cash to feed their habit, while the director of Rockhampton Base Hospital's emergency department reported that ice addicts who fall into a violent psychosis were a danger to themselves and to other patients and families in the hospital waiting rooms. Drug pushers are targeting regional Australia because they can get some of the highest prices in the world for ice here.

Tackling the ice scourge that is harming so many communities is a top priority for our coalition government. Nationally, statistics show the growth of ice and meth use is very alarming. One in 14 Australians have tried ice, and 200,000 Australians have used ice in the past 12 months. Meth or ice imports jumped from five per cent of all illegal drug imports in 2011 to 59 per cent in 2014. The rate of people receiving treatment for meth use has doubled in Australia in the last three years.

Our Australian government's National Ice Taskforce inquiry has been a positive step to help identify ways to combat the issue through health, education and law programs. The Transport Security Amendment (Serious or Organised Crime) Bill 2016 will safeguard against unlawful interference with our aviation and maritime transport sectors, through which ice is often imported and distributed.

In the meantime, people in Central Queensland, fed up with the impact of the drug ice, can take action by dobbing in a local drug dealer. Last week, I joined police, Crime Stoppers and civic leaders to launch a Dob in a Dealer campaign in Rockhampton to combat the ice epidemic. The Turnbull-Joyce coalition government is partnering Crime Stoppers and providing $1 million to fund this campaign. The aim is to encourage local people to contact Crime Stoppers in a bid to help tackle the manufacturing and distribution of ice in this area. Crime Stoppers plays a valuable role in collecting information from the public to help police. I urge everyone to say, 'Enough is enough,' and to rid our streets, parks, neighbourhoods, airports and shipping ports of ice dealers, who are profiteering and leaving a trail of sick and desperate users, not to mention devastated families. The Dob in a Dealer campaign will help send a clear message to local and international drug kingpins targeting Central Queensland that they we do not want them operating here. To dob in someone who is manufacturing or dealing in ice, call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or go online at crimestoppers.com.au. If we can stop organised criminals from peddling ice, we can potentially save lives.

The Transport Security Amendment (Serious or Organised Crime) Bill will make our ports and airports more secure to combat ice being smuggled across our borders. I commend this bill to the House. Thank you.

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