Karen McNamara (Dobell, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Justice. Will the minister inform the House of action the government is taking to disrupt organised crime and to stop the ice epidemic afflicting our communities?

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

I thank the member for Dobell for that question. Today I joined with the CEO of the Australian Crime Commission in releasing Australia's first unclassified picture of the illicit market in methyl-amphetamine—or ice—in Australia. This personality-distorting, life-ending drug is paying enormous dividends for organised criminal syndicates that continue to profit from its misery.

This report highlights that the creep of ice across the nation is actually impacting on all levels of Australian society. It also highlights the role that organised crime has in the distribution, supply and use of ice. It says that more than 60 per cent of Australia's highest-profile organised crime targets—those who are on the National Criminal Target List—are actually involved in the distribution of ice—60 per cent. And the high price of ice here in Australia is attracting organised crime groups from literally all points of the globe, including China, Mexico, West Africa, the Middle East, Vietnam, the United States and others.

What the report also highlights is that law enforcement is seizing an unprecedented amount of this drug. As the Prime Minister has just said in his answer, the AFP seized seven tonnes—seven tonnes!—of methamphetamine over the past two years. In November last year the AFP and their law enforcement partners seized $1½ billion dollars' worth of this drug—the second-largest seizure of drugs in Australian history.

Now, the government is responding to do all we can to attack the supply side. We have fast tracked the National Anti-Gang Squad. This squad sends AFP officers out to work directly with their state and territory counterparts in tackling organised criminal groups, particularly bikie gangs, who are instrumental in peddling this drug. They work in conjunction with the Australian Gangs Intelligence Coordination Centre. And, very importantly, we restored and enhanced the funding cuts that Labor made to Customs when they were in office, when we invested $88 million to increase cargo screening when we came to office.

But, despite these efforts, the lucrative nature of this drug has seen mounting harm and havoc inflicted on our communities, including particularly in rural and regional communities. There is no question that ice now poses the greatest threat of any of the illicit drugs in Australia. Every day we hear new stories emerge of the damage that it does to individuals, to families and to communities. I visited a hospital with the Minister for Health that services the needs of my electorate. They told us that their greatest challenge now is violence against their staff, which they relate directly back to the increased use of ice.

This ACC report is a very important report that highlights the damage that ice is doing to our country. It highlights the profits that organised crime is making and it will be a very useful and valuable tool to inform this government's response.