Robert Ray (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to Senator Ellison, the Minister for Justice and Customs. Has the minister been informed of a recent United Nations report that only six of 34 Afghan provinces are now opium free? Can the minister confirm that the amount of Afghan land under poppy cultivation has increased by 162 per cent since the start of 2005 and that Afghanistan now supplies 92 per cent of the world’s supply of opium, the raw material for heroin? Can the minister explain why the Howard government has stood idly by while the Afghan government has struggled to prevent this massive growth? Why are young Australian service men and women risking their lives in Afghanistan to protect a government that ignores poppy cultivation, which in turn has the effect of allowing heroin to be sent to Australia with the resultant loss of young Australian lives?

Chris Ellison (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Justice and Customs) Share this | Link to 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.

Robert Ray (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a supplementary question. I would ask the minister to specify where in my question I alleged Australian servicemen were protecting opium poppy production. It is a total falsehood, and the minister knows it. Secondly, given the minister’s concern for opium production in Afghanistan, I would like to know what practical prevention steps Australia is taking and what aid it is giving the government of Afghanistan to prevent this explosion of poppy growing.

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

I take Senator Ray’s supplementary to be a withdrawal of the imputation that we are supporting a government that is behind the production of heroin and the trafficking of it. So, on that basis, I accept it. But I will say this: we have people in the region. We are working with law enforcement in the region and working closely with a range of countries—Pakistan, the United States and the United Kingdom, to name a few—and we will continue to do so. Mr President, the fact remains that in Senator Ray’s question he talked about Australian defence forces propping up a government which was behind the supply of heroin and the production of opium. On the basis that I understand the supplementary to be a withdrawal of that imputation, I accept it.

Robert Ray (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

You are just a dog for saying that, Chris, and you know it.

Nick Minchin (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance and Administration) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, on a point of order: I think it is unparliamentary to call someone a dog in this place.

Paul Calvert (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I did not hear it but, if it was unparliamentary, I would ask you to withdraw.

Robert Ray (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I do, and I would not mind Senator Ellison similarly withdrawing the imputation he made against me. That is the first time in this chamber in 25 years I have ever asked for a withdrawal.

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

I stand by the fact that the question, as Senator Ray put it, implied that the Australian defence forces were propping up a government which was behind the trafficking and production of illicit drugs. I think the Senate understood that in the same way I did. If that is an accepted fact, there is an imputation which flows from it. I am sorry, but that is an interpretation which is openly available in the construction of common English language. If he cannot see that then I feel sorry for him. I do not change my position one jot.

Paul Calvert (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I will review the Hansard and report back on that particular issue.