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

The drug ice is a significant issue facing this country, and I am pleased to inform the House that I recently hosted a high-profile ministerial hearing in Rockhampton to discuss the local impact of ice. The federal Assistant Minister for Health, Senator Fiona Nash, came to the beef city to spearhead a community round table on the use of crystal methamphetamines. This hearing was significant for Central Queensland. The statistics on the uptake of ice are alarming. I was shocked to learn that ice is more commonly used in regional and remote areas and has even made its way into some primary schools in the country.

The Rockhampton roundtable involved input from police, health workers, drug and alcohol workers, university academics and social welfare organisations. Information from the forum will be fed back to the Australian government's National Ice Taskforce inquiry. The task force is currently touring the country to examine existing efforts to address ice and to identify new ways to combat it by education, health and law enforcement programs.

I asked the assistant minister to bring the roundtable to Rockhampton because we are not immune from the ice scourge. In fact, the hearing was told it is a serious problem in central Queensland. One delegate, who operates a rehabilitation service, told of how he was inspired to help because his own daughter was an ice addict. 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 that 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, which is harming so many communities, is a top priority for our coalition government. I was delighted that the assistant health minister visited Capricornia, because ice use is a growing problem. It is ruining people's lives, destroying families and harming our community. Statistics showing the growth of ice and meth use are alarming. One in 14 Australians have tried ice; 200,000 Australians have used ice in the past 12 months; meth/ice imports jumped from five per cent of all illegal drug imports in 2011 to 59 per cent in 2014; and the number of people receiving treatment for meth use have doubled in Australia in three years.

The Australian government's National Ice Taskforce inquiry is a positive step to help identify ways to combat the issue through health, education and law programs.