Duncan Kerr (Denison, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On behalf of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on the Australian Crime Commission, I present the committee’s report on its inquiry into the manufacture, importation and use of amphetamines and other synthetic drugs in Australia, together with evidence received by the committee.

Ordered that the report be made a parliamentary paper.

by leave—I believe the committee has sought to present a balanced report. Inevitably, in a report of this nature on the Australian Crime Commission, the focus is on the national law enforcement environment, its agencies, strategies and legislative initiatives, and much of the report concerns supply reduction. In that regard there are a number of important recommendations—for example, an emphasis on supporting Project STOP, in recommendation 12; that there be a standard data dictionary and consistency in collection of analysis of data between the Commonwealth and the states, in recommendations 3 and 15; and that there be a nationally coordinated response to new and emerging telecommunications strategies used by organised criminal networks.

The report also addresses the focus of the National Drug Strategy, the overarching strategy under which we need to evaluate our responses to the problem of drugs in our community. That strategy is not aimed at the unachievable goal of eradication of illicit drugs. That point is made at paragraph 3.4 of our report. The National Drug Strategy 2004-09, endorsed by the government, is set out in detail at paragraph 3.6 of our report. In short, there are three elements: firstly, supply reduction strategies; secondly, demand reduction strategies; and, thirdly, harm minimisation strategies. This report draws attention to the imbalance between the funding and resources going into supply reduction strategies—that is, the law enforcement side—opposed to those going to demand reduction and harm minimisation. In that regard, the report makes a number of specific recommendations. For example, recommendation 5 states:

… that public education and demand reduction … be factual, informative and appropriately targeted … seeking input from young people …

Recommendation 6 suggests:

… harm-reduction strategies … receive more attention and resources.

If you can conceptualise the National Drug Strategy a three-legged stool, with each leg supporting an overarching objective of minimising the harm from drugs in our community, then presently the balance does not reflect what would be the most effective response.

This morning I had the opportunity to go to the launch of CADETLiFe, a program which is addressing problems within the cadets. One of the focuses was youth suicide, which has been a blight not just in this country but also in other countries. Those presenting stressed the importance of organisations committing to programs to build resilience and connectedness contrasted with expulsion and exclusion. Of course, there is a place for expulsion, exclusion and punishment for those involved in serious and organised crime; I do not back away from that. But it is ridiculous and impossible to deal with the over 30 per cent of Australians—our children, people we know, some parliamentarians and people in all walks of life—who have used illicit drugs for personal reasons and do not conceptualise themselves as criminals. Indeed, our law enforcement system would grind to a halt were we ever to operate in that way.

We have seen a firestorm of controversy over drug use in the AFL recently. All I wish to say in that regard is that the danger of making scapegoats and isolating people as if they are particular targets for exclusion from our society has to be resisted. Young people are risk-takers. What we need to do is to build those capacities of resilience and connectedness. I hope that those who may have come into some difficulty with managing their use of illicit drugs are assisted to get their lives back on track. But it is not just in the AFL; in every walk of life now, young people are involved. In the military, and even in our agencies that require top secret positive vetting, we have stopped insisting on excluding people with prior drug use. Don Stewart, the former and first chair of the National Crime Authority, has pointed out that we need to focus on a medical approach, which enables people to be rehabilitated into the community, and that zero tolerance has been a dramatic failure. The balance has been wrong, and I hope that the committee’s report will be a positive contribution to a more balanced approach to this debate. (Time expired)

Jason Wood (La Trobe, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I also rise in support of the report of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on the Australian Crime Commission, Inquiry into the manufacture, importation and use of amphetamines and other synthetic drugs (AOSD) in Australia. I congratulate the Deputy Chair, the member for Denison, on the report he has just tabled. I also thank the other committee members, in particular, the chair, Senator Macdonald, and Mr Richardson, who is the member for Kingston in South Australia. Mr Richardson is an ex-police officer, and his evidence to the inquiry and his expertise were highly valued.

Sadly, Australia has one of the highest levels of methamphetamine use in the world. In recent years, we have seen the usage increasing. The Department of Health and Ageing noted the following from the UN World Drug Report 2005:

In comparison with other data presented in the report, Australia has a substantially higher rate of amphetamine use than the other countries listed including the UK (1.6%), USA (1.4%), Netherlands (0.6%) and Canada (0.6%).

The annual prevalence of ecstasy in Australia was 3.4% of the population aged 15-64 years in 2001.

I am sure that figure has only grown. Deputy Commissioner Simon Overland of the Victoria Police highlighted the scale of AOSD problems in Australia:

Our estimation, our intelligence, is that there are somewhere in the vicinity of 100,000 tablets of ecstasy being consumed per weekend across Australia.

That is exceptionally sad. If you break that down into the 150 electorates, in La Trobe there would be approximately 666 people per weekend who are using some sort of recreational drug. It is very sad; they do not realise the damage that they are doing to themselves and eventually to their families. One in eight people aged between 20 and 29 years has used ecstasy in the last 12 months. The 20- to 29-year age group had the highest proportion of people ever using ecstasy compared with all other age groups.

We had some discussions regarding the various terms for drugs used around the country and how various states define drugs. Standardising the terms for drugs is one of the recommendations of the committee. AOSD is defined to include amphetamine, methamphetamine and methylenedioxymethamphetamine. In Australia, amphetamines have historically been associated with street drugs such as speed. In recent years, other forms of methamphetamine have become prevalent, including base and crystalline methamphetamine, commonly known as ‘ice’. Sadly, this has really hit the streets. In my days in the police force four or five years ago, we had not even heard of the drug. Now it is everywhere out there. MDMA, commonly known as ecstasy, also belongs to the family of synthetic drugs.

So who is using the drugs? You heard the age groups before, but AOSD users cut across all sectors of society and come from a variety of backgrounds. Users may range from well-educated professionals. For example, ecstasy and methamphetamines are used at dance parties. Ecstasy is called the party drug, but it causes great personal harm, with long-term mental health problems. When you look around the world—and in Australia we are hearing at the moment about AFL football stars—and at the popular stars in America, you see that these people have, no doubt, the ability to get the best sort of advice and support and go to the best clinics for rehab, but I feel very sorry for the people who cannot afford to do that. That is one of the greatest dangers that I foresee.

The committee made a number of recommendations—18, I think. One of the great things that came out of this was through the Queensland pharmaceutical guild and their STOP program, which is a database that ensures that all those people who purchase drugs are linked by a photo ID. The ID goes into the database and is circulated, so you cannot have one person going to different pharmacies to buy drugs. I think that is a great initiative which has to be rolled out across the whole country. (Time expired)

David Hawker (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Does the member for Denison wish to move a motion in connection with the report to enable it to be debated on a future occasion?

I move:

That the House take note of the report.

In accordance with standing order 39(c), the debate is adjourned. The resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for a later hour this day.