David Littleproud (Maranoa, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to bring attention to the scourge of drug addiction, particularly in rural and remote communities like those I represent in the electorate of Maranoa, which covers nearly 43 per cent of the state of Queensland. Recently I held a number of ice forums, because I became increasingly aware of the concerns of citizens across my electorate about the impact the drug ice was having. In these small communities in the electorate of Maranoa the effects are far more visible than they are in metropolitan areas. They tear away at the very fabric of that community because it is so prevalent. You see the pain and anguish of those families. I have to admit that before I became the member for Maranoa I was ignorant of the effects of drugs on families and individuals. It wasn't until I sat and listened to the harrowing stories of some of the families and the addicts themselves about the impact it has had on their lives and the way it has destroyed families, destroyed their financial status and destroyed these communities. It took a toll on me and made me realise that we had to take action.

This government proudly put in place $300 million for tackling ice, but it became apparent to me, as the local member, that we needed to make sure that those funds were put at a grassroots level and that it was actually impacting those people not just in larger metropolitan areas but also in those smaller communities. As I heard when I went around having these ice forums across rural and regional Australia, there is a small window of opportunity when people reach out for help, and unless there's someone there to grab them in that hour of need, invariably they fall back into their old ways.

It became apparent that we were being underrepresented in terms of clinical workers on the ground. I am proud to say that as a result of these ice forums that we've had we now have, for the first time, a clinical worker in Chinchilla, a community of nearly 4,000 to 5,000 people. For the first time we have someone in Kingaroy. We are bolstering services in Kingaroy as well as Dalby, Goondiwindi and Warwick, and for the first time in Roma and now St George.

Only in the last couple of weeks you would have heard of the raids by the Queensland Police Service, where they laid charges on 44 people. There were 214-odd charges laid against these people in that community and I have to congratulate the Queensland Police Service, Detective Inspector Paul Hart and the local St George police, Senior Sergeant Paul Tabrett and liaison officer Adam Osborne. They are true country coppers who care about their community, making it a better place and not walking past anything they would not accept. These are true people that care about their community and about making a difference to the lives of the young people in that community, so that they will have a way forward and can live in a community with safety and pride. Members, I implore you all to tackle this together as a community.