Ann Sudmalis (Gilmore, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I have spoken many times in this House about the liaison work done at the PCYC, where the police work tirelessly to bridge the divide and mentor young people in Gilmore. This weekend we will see more evidence of our police working with the community in a positive way. Twelve Indigenous youngsters will participate in the local Fishing for the Future program. Under the guidance and organisational talents of Inspector Steve Johnson, together with our dedicated and effective Ben Wellington, our Aboriginal community liaison officer, these young people will have a day of workshops. They will learn many skills themed around their culture but they will also learn how to fish in a safe and responsible manner while participating in recreational fishing. On the second day they will have an opportunity to fish offshore for the whole day and perhaps be one of the chosen to earn the Uncle Ray Smith Memorial Trophy.

On 10 June we held a community ice forum in Ulladulla. We invited the community to attend and put forward their ideas on how best to deal with ice in our local region. Aunty Nell Mooney welcomed us all to country. She is a great contributor. Shelley Hancock, state member for the South Coast, spoke to the group and, since then, has announced confirmed funding for the new police station in the bay and basin. Congratulations, Shelley. You have worked so hard for this outcome.

Senior Constable Tony Jori talked about the impact of ice on crime statistics and about Operation Croci. Dr Andrew Bezzina, senior staff specialist in emergency medicine at Shoalhaven District Memorial Hospital, spoke of his own experiences with ice in the emergency ward. Renata Matyear, who is on the legal aid panel for family and criminal law, has been at the forefront of establishing a specialist drug court in Nowra to service the Illawarra and South Coast. Sue Adams, from Sunflower House, is a resident of Ulladulla and she runs three non-clinical mental health programs in the region, one of which is Sunflower House. They each spoke briefly about the impacts of ice in their spheres of expertise before a message from the Prime Minister was played to the attendees. Then we set to work to develop strategies for the next steps.

Having held several ice forums during the past eight months, we have already heard stories of personal tragedy, violence, separation, petty crime and serious crime. It was very heartening to hear from Jacob Williams, Ulladulla High School Captain and member of the Ulladulla High School drug awareness team; Pete Young, the Mollymook representative from Narcotics Anonymous, who is seven years drug free; and two young people, Keturah Fitzgerald and Aaron Egan. We decided to gather ideas that would be communicated to the National Ice Taskforce, and I had the chance to present the Gilmore submission to the task force chairman, former Chief Commissioner of Victoria Police, Ken Lay. Today I met with the former commissioner and showed him the recommendation from Gilmore, but we had already submitted it previously.

Community awareness and contributing information to the police is an essential step. Due to the commendable work of our local area command in the Shoalhaven and the community helping all over, up to 16 June there were 32 arrests on ice-related charges. There will be more to come, all part of Operation Croci. The same week, one of our local police officers called my office and asked me to investigate possible PIN numbers being applied to PayPass and PayWave cards, because this petty crime is overlapping into other areas. From his recent figures, it looked like they had four times more fraud cases than their average.

According to some police jurisdictions, there has not been a spike in such events. Yet, if you speak to property managers and units at shopping centres, there has been an increase. Others report an increase in credit card fraud but they do not have a separate category for online fraud or contact-less events versus PayWave.

I am now on a bit of a mission. Just last week I was robbed and had my car vandalised, and I really want to get to the bottom of this credit card fraud. I would also like a better and more streamlined method of reporting stolen cards. There is absolutely nothing so frustrating as discovering the theft of your personal belongings and then having to report them as stolen. You are stuck on hold with a tacky message saying, 'have you tried the online method?' with tacky music, and then that is repeated. Then you have to go through the whole process with the next card, your licence and your Medicare card. Really? In this day and age, it just should not happen. Thank goodness for the police force, as I know they are checking CCTV now, because my cards have already been used fraudulently. Was this an ice-related crime? Was it just petty fraud? I think it is all related and I think we have to work exceptionally hard with our police to make sure we are looking at the ice factor all together.