John Alexander (Bennelong, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Law Enforcement and Cyber Security. Will the minister update the House on what actions the government is taking to stop illicit drugs from making their way onto our streets, and would different approaches achieve the same success?

Angus Taylor (Hume, Liberal Party, Minister for Law Enforcement and Cybersecurity) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for his question, and I commend him for his interest in keeping drugs off the streets of Bennelong, his electorate. Of course, we're all interested, on this side of the House, in keeping drugs off the street, and so I'm pleased to update the House on the operational successes of our law enforcement agencies since 1 July—this is just the last six weeks. In that time, our agencies have shut down a European drug syndicate importing MDMA and cocaine in large quantities, allegedly, into Australia. They've shut down a clandestine drug lab in Sydney, with 150 litres of methamphetamine seized. They've charged two men attempting to import almost 100 kilograms of cocaine, and they've seized over half a tonne—600 kilograms—of cocaine being imported into Queensland. That is on top of 10.7 tonnes of hard drugs intercepted at our borders in the last financial year—10.7 tonnes that would have ended up on our streets, devastating our local communities, having a horrific impact in our suburbs, in our cities, in our regional towns and in our rural centres.

We know that our communities know a great deal about what's going on on the streets. For that reason, we recently announced a reinvestment in the Dob in a Dealer campaign run by Crime Stoppers. It's funded by proceeds of crime—dollars destined to line the pockets of serious criminals. And I call on anyone with information that can help with investigations or prosecutions of criminals smuggling and peddling drugs to call Crime Stoppers on 1800333000. That's just one step we're taking to disrupt the work, the business models, of drug dealers in this country. On top of that, we've established Australia's first Transnational Serious and Organised Crime Coordinator. We've boosted funding into domestic policing by $320 million and provided over $120 million to the Anti-Gang Squad.

In contrast, the former Labor government raided the budgets of our law enforcement agencies to bolster their faltering budget. In their last four years in government, those opposite cut $128 million from the AFP, cut 700 staff and $735 million from Customs, and cut air cargo screening by 75 per cent. This government is absolutely committed to keeping illicit drugs off the streets of our suburbs, our cities and our towns and giving our law enforcement agencies the support they need to get the job done.