Dennis Jensen (Tangney, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We are all very well aware of the terrible toll that the abuse of legal and illegal drugs has on Australians. It is not just the deaths and the debilitated mental and physical health of drug users but the extra costs to our health, police and prison systems. Even worse is the harrowing price extracted from families and friends of addicts. Parents are driven to despair as they see sons and daughters degenerate into gaunt shadows or desperate, aggression fuelled travesties of the children they raised.

The good news is that there is an amazing treatment happening in Dr George O’Neil’s naltrexone clinic in Perth. Dr O’Neil implants the naltrexone, which protects the addict from the effects of a drug for at least four months by blocking the effect of the drug, so addicts no longer desire a drug because they do not feel the high that comes from it. Less than five per cent of opiate users will reuse drugs again within six to nine months of the implant. This treatment was originally used to treat heroin addiction but is now being used against other illegal drugs and to help alcoholics kick their addiction.

Dr O’Neil gets funding from the Western Australian government of around $1 million but needs at least $10 million from the federal government to be able to treat all those who come to his door, many of whom are from interstate. This treatment offers the first ray of hope for drug addicts. It would also make a huge dent in the illegal drug industry, which is crippling our country financially and socially. I cannot stress too much the importance of Dr O’Neil’s work and the commitment he and his team are making on a daily basis. We should appreciate the many thousands of dollars of his own money which Dr O’Neil has already put into this amazing procedure.

The clinic employs several highly qualified young people who no doubt could earn much more money elsewhere. It also has many volunteers, who do a great job in assisting Dr O’Neil in this work. Dr O’Neil’s program does not just treat the addiction but also provides post-implant counselling and short-term housing. It has given new life and hope to addicts of both legal and illegal substances and is helping save the rest of society from suffering the inevitable consequences of drug abuse. We will not just be saving millions of dollars but thousands of lives from early death and disease, and Australian families from endless trauma. I urge all members to support the funding of this truly remarkable treatment program.