Chris Ellison (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Justice and Customs) Share this | Hansard source

Let us get the facts straight on the supply of heroin into Australia. They are as follows. The Australian Crime Commission, in its national illicit drug report, has shown time and time again that the vast majority of heroin that is trafficked into Australia comes from the Golden Triangle—Burma, Laos and Thailand, that particular region. It is an historical fact that 99 per cent or thereabouts of the heroin trafficked into Australia comes from that region.

We do not for one minute discount Afghanistan as a source of supply, but I can tell you that, from talking to representatives from the United Nations narcotics commission in Vienna and to law enforcement authorities in Australia, we believe that the main source of supply of heroin is still that Golden Triangle region. Afghanistan, of course, remains a threat as a possible source of heroin to Australia. We have never discounted that. But, primarily, Afghanistan supplies the markets of Europe, the United Kingdom and United States.

It is something that we are monitoring very closely, I might say, because of the indications of increased supply. That is something that is of concern to me and to law enforcement in Australia. But I totally reject that the men and women of the Australian Defence Force are protecting opium growers and that they are protecting the drug suppliers out of Afghanistan. For operational reasons, I am not going to detail what the Australian Federal Police is doing in relation to that region. We do have representatives in that region, and it is something that we are monitoring very closely.

We all know that there has been a huge reduction in the supply of heroin into Australia. In fact, that is why we have had the consequential reduction in deaths related to heroin overdoses. I think you used to see it on the front page of the Herald Sun: the road toll and the toll from heroin deaths. You do not see that anymore because of the rate of reduction in the supply of heroin and the reduction in purity. It used to be in excess of 50 per cent, if I remember correctly, and it is down to between 10 and 20 per cent. It has made a huge difference.

This reduction in supply has come about as a result of the very good work of Australian law enforcement and it is something which we take very seriously. But we do not for one minute remain complacent, and I am not being dismissive of the point that Senator Ray raises in that other part of his question when he talks about an increase in supply from Afghanistan. We are not dismissive, saying that that is something which does not pose a risk to Australia; we have continually regarded Afghanistan as a potential risk but, having said that, historically and in the current environment, the vast majority of heroin that makes its way into Australia comes from the Golden Triangle.

Senator Ray has put this question on the basis that there is an increase in the supply of heroin and that it will have a consequential effect on the supply of heroin in Australia. I am saying that we have seen no evidence that Afghanistan heroin has made a marked increase in presence in Australia. There have been one or two aspects. We have seen signs of its presence and we are investigating those. For operational reasons, I am not going to go into the work that the Australian Federal Police is doing with overseas agencies in this regard, but it is something that we are monitoring very closely. That question had some very important aspects to it. Unfortunately, there is one which I dismissed out of hand totally—that is, that our Australian defence forces are protecting drug traffickers.