Stephen Parry (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I also rise to speak on this report on aviation and maritime security measures to combat serious and organised crime, being a member of the committee and being involved with the inquiry for its duration. I recommend the report to all senators and members to read. It has some revealing information. The committee, in taking a lot of in camera evidence, was given information that really assisted in the compilation of this report, which obviously cannot be discussed. However, the evidence that is in the report is compelling. The evidence given by agencies certainly led us to the 21 recommendations and I whole­heartedly support the recommendations.

Senator Hutchins touched on one of the recommendations I wish to highlight, and that is recommendation No. 4. The com­mittee recommended the formation of a maritime crime task force that would be a national flying squad led by the Australian Federal Police. The intent and the purpose of this flying squad is to randomly check and go to any areas that they are required to go to in the light of information or intelligence that comes before that flying squad. I believe this would be a great deterrent to illicit activity in the maritime sector in particular. To have a flying squad that could arrive unannounced at any time to investigate issues, be they intelligence based or random, would be a great deterrent.

Senator Hutchins also touched upon the prices of illicit drugs on the international and domestic market. This is a cornerstone aspect of why crime activity and the importation of illicit material, in particular drugs, are prevalent in our maritime and aviation sectors. I will go through some detail because the main rationale for organised crime is simply to drive profit. The profit is enormous.

Senator Hutchins touched upon cocaine. I will go to heroin. Heroin, when it leaves its source in Afghanistan—and this is shown in a table in appendix 4 of our report—can have a top price of about $2,500 for a typical kilogram. When it comes to Australia 700 grams, so just under a kilogram, can wholesale for $210,000. That is an enormous mark-up from $2,500 a kilogram to $210,000 for less than a kilogram when it arrives in Australia.

Ecstasy—a tablet of choice, sadly—can leave the Netherlands at a wholesale price for the top range of about $4,700 per 1,000 tablets. It will then wholesale in Australia at the top price of around of about $20,000 per 1,000 tablets. A lot of tablets can come through our airports and our ports. Methyl­amphetamine can leave Canada with the top-range price of $23,000 for a kilogram—I am quoting the top range; the wholesale price can be a lot less in the source country—and be wholesaled in Australia for $210,000 a kilogram.

Australia is the most lucrative country for organised crime because we seem to have the ability to pay and we pay higher prices. If you look at the average prices in other countries, in the United States methyl­amphetamine is about $70,000 per kilogram. Likewise, if we go back to cocaine, it is about $43,000 per kilogram for cocaine in the United States compared to $250,000 per kilogram here for the top-range wholesale price Senator Hutchins also quoted. So we seem to have the ability to pay. The end-users here want to pay and that is why the crime syndicates are lucrative options for organised crime. They are certainly picking a market and that is why we need to be tougher on our borders in Australia. This report goes to address how we can harden our borders and how we can detect crime operations on our waterfront and in the aviation sector, and I commend the report to the Senate. I seek leave to continue my remarks.

Leave granted; debate adjourned.