Steve Irons (Swan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Last week, I had the pleasure of welcoming the Minister for Justice, the Hon. Michael Keenan, to Swan to co-host an important round table with community and experts from across Swan which was aimed at combating the scourge of ice, or crystal methamphetamine, which is harming so many communities across Australia. I know there is strong support from the opposite side of the House for this taskforce as well.

As members know, the Prime Minister announced the establishment of a National Ice Taskforce to address this growing problem earlier this year, and round tables such as the one the minister and I co-hosted will help inform the task force as to the areas where efforts should be concentrated to combat its use and different strategies which could be implemented. Two local police sergeants attended from my electorate who stated that they are finding 'more mums and dads cooking meth because it is profitable'—it helps them pay the bills—and that about '80 per cent of people local police come into contact with are on drugs such as amphetamines and are often aggressive and unpredictable'. These statements are staggering, but they also distinctly highlight why this task force, which Minister Keenan is overseeing, is so vital.

In Swan, stakeholders overall agreed that to combat the prevalence of ice more work needs to be done to stop the supply, there needs to be a greater focus placed on education and early prevention, particularly in primary schools, and there needs to be a more collaborative approach implemented between the different sectors. I have provided this feedback to the task force and look forward to strategies such as this being implemented as part of the government's National Ice Action Strategy.