Michael Keenan (Stirling, Liberal Party, Minister for Justice) Share this | Hansard source

I would just invite the opposition to look at the scoreboard that our law enforcement agencies have actually managed over the past four years: record seizures of cocaine, record seizures of crystal methamphetamine, record seizures of precursors such as ephedrine.

We've never seen a more coordinated and joined up effort from our law enforcement community: the Australian Federal Police working in conjunction with Australian Border Force and working in conjunction with the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission. We have seen these record seizures. We have sent our law enforcement agents out into the world incredibly effectively. Taskforce Blaze in China is the only joint task force of any foreign law enforcement agency with the Chinese national narcotics control bureau. That one task force alone, where AFP officers are working side by side with their Chinese counterparts, has stopped 13 tonnes of drugs from hitting Australian streets in the past two years—13 tonnes! We've now got similar task forces with the Royal Thai Police and the royal Cambodian police.

We do have a significant problem with the high demand for illicit drugs in Australia. We have been tackling it by tackling the supply side, and our efforts have never been more effective, with the law enforcement operations that I've just outlined. We've also tackled the demand side, particularly in relation to crystal methamphetamine, or ice, with the largest investment in drug and alcohol rehabilitation in Australia's history. I'm very pleased to report to the House, because this is the first time we've ever had comprehensive information, that we are seeing the embryonic start of the decrease in ice usage throughout the community. This is a direct result of the efforts of our law enforcement community, combined with what we've done to decrease demand for this insidious drug.

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