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- 27 March 2001
Cabramatta Anti-Drug Strategy
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Page: 12593
Ministerial Statement
Mr CARR (Maroubra—Premier, Minister for the Arts, and Minister for Citizenship) [2.23 p.m.]: I wish to make a major and detailed statement about Cabramatta. The Drug Summit revealed two facts about heroin: first, it is 100 per cent imported and, second, some people remain determined and gullible about injecting this poison into their veins. All of us—families, police, health and social workers, doctors and parliamentarians—are fighting both international supply and domestic demand. The latest police intelligence suggests that the most active suppliers operate from Afghanistan and Burma. Those two nations now produce 94 percent of the world's opium. Drug dealers are looking for new markets and, sadly, they are finding Australia and New South Wales. It is clear that a concerted effort by police to arrest suppliers and harass dealers has forced up the price of heroin.. Three months ago a hit cost as little as $20. Latest reports indicate that prices are now 10 times higher, that is, up to $200 a hit.
I would like to address the assertion that business in Cabramatta is stagnant. Currently, the Cabramatta Chamber of Commerce is seeking the construction of a $19.5 million commuter car park with 428 extra car spaces. I am advised that ground floor retail tenancy at Cabramatta is currently more expensive than at Manly or Bondi. Cabramatta has one of the lowest retail vacancy rates in all of New South Wales. This year's Chinese New Year Festival attracted 40,000 visitors—more than ever before. I recognise that there are very serious problems at Cabramatta. I have seen the problems with my own eyes. They need evidence-based plans and solutions. That is why today I announce an evidence-based plan, to be mounted in three stages, which will apply statewide—not just at Cabramatta. Stage one is a criminal justice plan.. Stage two is a plan for compulsory treatment and stage three is a plan for prevention and early intervention.
Police have reported that efforts to curb street dealing have given rise to an alarming number of drug houses. These are fortified with steel doors and, in many cases, are guarded premises where drugs are being sold. When police break down the doors during a raid, lookouts raise the alarm, thus allowing drugs to be hidden or destroyed. What police find are large quantities of cash, drug-affected people, illegal firearms, scales and other measuring equipment used for supply, steel fortifications and lookouts. They find everything showing evidence of dealing but, in many cases, because of the time taken to bust into the premises, they find no drugs. We have to close that loophole.
New laws will be introduced allowing police to arrest anyone who acts as a lookout, guard, or who raises the alarm for others in a suspected drug house; anyone who enters or leaves a suspected drug house unless they can establish a legal purpose; anyone who knowingly allows the premises to be used as a drug house; and anyone who organises or assists in the organisation of a drug house. Police will also be able to force the owners of a building to take steps to prevent the supply of drugs at the premises or take action to close or confiscate the premises. Each of these offences will carry a penalty of one year in gaol for the first offence and five years in gaol for the second offence.
[Interruption]
The Opposition will have an opportunity to reply. I am outlining these matters by way of a ministerial statement so that the Opposition will have an opportunity to participate in the debate. Police will establish that the building had the characteristics of a drug house in securing the original search warrant. Those police powers and the new one-year and five-year penalties apply even if no drugs are found. If drugs are found on the premises penalties for existing offences can result in much longer prison sentences.
Police have advised of the difficulties in establishing possession or supply of a drug when drugs are concealed or swallowed. Swallowing heroin in a balloon is a well-known example. The Government will give police the power to detain an individual and have a medical practitioner assist in a search. Apart from the new drug house problem, police need to be able to take action against those loitering at Cabramatta railway station, in many cases acting as go-betweens for suppliers. Those people do not carry drugs, but they are part of the drug trade. To combat this problem police will be given the power under the Summary Offences Act to move those people on. This will be similar to the move-on power for gangs that has been used by police over 54,000 times since this Parliament, in the Government's last term, gave police that power.
Refusal to move on can result in arrest. This power will mean that police will be able to intercept before the go-between becomes active. It is in addition to the existing powers that allow police to search and arrest anyone they suspect is dealing in drugs. This power will provide an extra option for police to apply, depending on the circumstances confronting them on the street. These changes mean police will have new powers to search and close down drug houses, to search for drugs, to arrest those who try to stop them from trying to enter premises where drugs are being sold and to move on loiterers trying to arrange drug deals. The evidence gathered also indicates a strong nexus between drug dealers and the trade in illegal firearms. Retired Federal commissioner Mick Palmer has spoken of this and so have our own police. I understand the upper House inquiry will call on former commissioner Palmer to give evidence of this problem. I support this.
Police have reported at Cabramatta evidence of the same people engaged in both illegal drug supply and firearms trafficking. To target the trade in illegal firearms the Government will create new laws and increase existing penalties. New laws will make it illegal to supply or take part in the supply of firearms to any person not authorised to use them. This offence will carry a 14-year prison sentence. It will be illegal for a licensed firearms dealer to wilfully record false details in firearms transactions. This will carry a 14-year gaol term. It will be illegal for an eligible person to obtain a licence to act as a front for an illegal firearms dealer. Again a 14-year penalty will apply. It will be illegal in New South Wales to conspire to traffic in illegal firearms, even if the conspiracy takes place outside New South Wales. In addition, penalties for the illegal possession of prohibited firearms will be increased from 10 to 14 years gaol. Police will be given the power to demand all firearms and parts for inspection from suspected arms dealers.
There will be a requirement for compulsory registration of firearms frames to curb the trade in the trafficking of illegal firearms parts. Further, the Bail Act will be amended to remove the presumption in favour of bail for those charged with handgun, prohibited firearm and offensive weapon offences. The last thing police need is to see the alleged illegal gun dealer they arrested on the Monday appearing in the streets on bail on Tuesday. One point is critical. Legitimate shooters, including farmers and sporting shooters, need not be concerned by these changes. There is no expectation of any problem or unintended consequence for those legitimate firearms users. These measures are directed at the criminals distributing heroin and illegal arms, not at responsible shooters.
Cabinet considered these legislative changes yesterday. The legislation will be drafted for introduction as soon as possible. Given their importance, I want the House to pass these laws in this session of Parliament. It is reasonable to expect these changes may swell prison numbers. If these changes mean extra cells, those cells will be built. The Cabramatta community has expressed concern at the grading of the Cabramatta police station. The grading of police stations has been used as an internal tool for deciding rates of pay in local area commands. It has not affected staffing levels. I can advise the House that Commissioner Ryan has reviewed the status of Cabramatta police station. Cabramatta Police Station has become a grade 1 police station because we want to attract the best senior officers to Cabramatta.
We are giving police the powers they need. With these new powers, the Police Service will saturate Cabramatta with 90 officers from the Greater Hume tactical action group, or flying squad, dedicated to Cabramatta; 108 officers currently in the local area command; 10 extra drug detectives; six extra bicycle patrols for rapid street-level and alleyway response; and a team of drug detection dogs, which were successfully trialled during the Olympic Games. In 1995 there were 84 police officers at Cabramatta. This plan means a police presence of over 200 police with new powers, when the legislation passes, to deal with street and drug house dealing.
I have also been advised by police of an urgent need for interpreters to assist police operations. Interpreters are needed to provide quick translations of telephone intercepts and accounting documentation in foreign languages. Ten interpreters are being contracted by the Community Relations Commission to work with operational police at Cabramatta. Police must investigate where evidence leads them. Ethnicity is not the issue; criminality is. One of the important issues at Cabramatta is the relationship between police and the local community. The Community Relations Commission will immediately commence the City Watch program, an initiative of the honourable member for Cabramatta, which will bring together representatives of local businesses and the police to exchange information and develop solutions to local crime. It will be chaired by the local area commander, Frank Hansen, and include the member for Cabramatta, local business and community leaders, school principals and the Community Relations Commission. The aim is to improve the flow of information between the community and police.
With these greater police numbers and greater police powers we expect more contact with drug users. Drug users are often homeless, have mental health problems or chronic addictions. Many will be imprisoned, depending on the individual circumstances. Many will refuse detoxification. In the absence of long-term treatment, many who receive detoxification treatment will simply return to the streets seeking more heroin. One of the solutions has to be compulsory treatment. That is why in Cabramatta police bail will be changed to add two conditions. First, it will be a breach of bail to fail to attend drug treatment and, second, if a person is from outside the area it will be a breach of bail to return to Cabramatta. Breaching bail will mean prison.
Further, the Government will set up the magistrates early referral into treatment [MERIT] scheme in Cabramatta. Due to commence in July 2002 the scheme will be brought forward to 1 July. Again, magistrates will impose treatment as a bail condition. The key to the success of these programs is effective drug treatment. Given these new programs, there will be many more referrals. Rehabilitation and treatment services in the south-western Sydney area will need to expanded. We propose to do that. One of the most critical parts of the rehabilitation and treatment is the provision of methadone, naltrexone and other drugs. On the weekend I announced that from next month naltrexone will be available in public clinics. It has been put to the Government by both Dr Andrew Wilson of the Health Department and Assistant Commissioner Small that there must be local treatment and rehabilitation facilities.
A local environment plan has been passed by council which does not allow for drug treatment in the area. The council's position is understandable. Like the honourable members for Fairfield and the honourable member for Cabramatta, the council is aware of the failure of the Barbara Street methadone clinic. It was poorly located and fell victim to the honeypot effect. I agree that any future facilities must not be located near schools or where young people congregate. The police and the Health Department have drafted a plan for the provision of treatment, which I want the council to consider.
A $4.4 million plan will complement the magistrates early referral into treatment [MERIT] scheme and the police bail scheme with, first, up to 500 extra treatment places, eight transitional rehabilitation beds, three acute-care beds and four mental-health beds; second, 47 extra crisis places through the Department of Housing; third, a three-person team of health professionals working with police and Department of Community Services [DOCS] workers to identify the method of treatment at the first point of contact; and, fourth, Health Department court liaison officers for implementing the MERIT scheme. I have asked Dr Wilson and Assistant Commissioner Small to commence discussions with Fairfield City Council and the Cabramatta community to decide on the best options and locations, and to avoid the problems of the earlier clinic.
Rejection of this plan will both increase pressure on services and the surrounding areas and make it more difficult to solve Cabramatta's drug problem. We need to work in partnership with the local council to meet the needs of the Cabramatta community. I agree that there must not be a return to the failed approach of the past but there must be consideration of this new plan. I turn now to early intervention and prevention. I welcome the Prime Minister's advertising initiative aimed at strengthening the role of parents in drug education. Parents are far more likely to help young people avoid drugs than any other group. We need to help those families most at risk.
I have no difficulty with anti-drugs education of this type being as explicit as possible: it tells the truth! In Cabramatta an additional $270,000 will be spent to set up a mobile child care team and provide extra family counselling services to help a further 350 families each year. To help police deal with homelessness, a six-person 24-hour DOCS team will be set up and will help police on the streets. We want to find young homeless people and warn them off drugs before they join the ranks of the Cabramatta users. The Families First plan will provide support for 100 Cabramatta families. Under that program parents of preschool children will visit local schools for classes that will assist them in their parenting.
From 1 July a $600,000 community drug education team will be set up to work in schools in Cabramatta, Fairfield, Bonnyrigg and Canley Vale. Its aim will be to increase the retention of students in schools. Its simple message will be "Stay in school, and stay away from drugs". The last thing that the people of our State want to see is police, or anyone else, playing a blame game while we grapple with this most serious problem. The police, the community and business leaders must put their differences aside and be prepared to make some tough decisions. If we stand divided, heroin will flourish in Cabramatta and elsewhere; united, we have a fighting chance.
Mrs CHIKAROVSKI (Lane Cove—Leader of the Opposition) [2.43 p.m.]: Along with other members of this House, in particular the shadow Minister for Police, the honourable member for Epping, I have spent a number of days in Cabramatta. To say that it is less than a pretty sight is fair comment. To say that it is a shocking sight is also fair comment. To say that it is a very sad sight for the people who work and live in Cabramatta is also fair comment. Today I am concerned about a number of things, but first and foremost I am concerned that it has taken the Premier so long to finally get around to doing something about a problem that he has known about not just for weeks or months but for years.
The Cabramatta business community and the people who live in the area know about the problem and in increasing desperation have cried out to the Government for help. I give credit to the Government that it has finally done something about the problem, but we all need to acknowledge that this problem has been going on for a considerable period and it seems that the Government has only recently come to the decision that it needs to do something about it. I give credit to Ross Treyvaud and the people in this Chamber who have been actively canvassing the media. They have raised these issues as much as they possibly could on radio, in local newspapers and newspapers across the State, because they were crying out loud but were not being heard.
If they felt the need to go to the media, that was because they had to do something—and the Government was not listening. Congratulations to the people who had been involved. We know that they have suffered and have been the subject of threats. We congratulate them on their bravery, on standing up for their community and on wanting to work for their community. In response to matters raised by the Premier today I make the following comments. It is absolutely incorrect to say that the business community in Cabramatta is thriving. It is incorrect to say that business people are unconcerned about the level of street dealing in their community. Premier, I suggest that you go out to Cabramatta—
[Interruption]
Mr Speaker, the Premier was heard in silence. As this is an important issue I would appreciate members of the Government giving me the same courtesy. The Premier and other members of this House need to go to Cabramatta without the cameras, without the radio microphones, and walk around and talk to the business community. They should talk, as I did, to the people who own the shops near the Woolworths shopping centre. A woman who runs one of the shops said to me, "In my shop I have goods which I want to sell to children. They are pretty and attractive to children. But how can I do that if their mothers will not come into my shop because the druggies and drug dealers are in my shop and they terrify the children? They hassle the children, and push them around. My business is failing because I cannot keep those people out of my shop." Businesses are failing because the druggies can wander around Cabramatta, stoned out of their mind, and no-one is doing anything about it.
Ms Meagher: This is starting to sound like Marrickville.
Mr SPEAKER: Order! The Leader of the Opposition has the call.
Mrs CHIKAROVSKI: If the member for Cabramatta wants me to explain to the House what the people of Cabramatta think of her I will seek an extension of time, because we have got all day to talk about this. Reba, they think you are a waste of space. Recently I sat and had coffee in Cabramatta and talked to the owner of the coffee shop. The owner had complained that on the previous weekend his coffee shop had been graffitied. His shop was graffitied because he had been one of those brave people I mentioned earlier who had the courage to talk about the problems in Cabramatta and wanted something done.
The shop owner said to me, "I intend to keep this business going. It is tough and it is hard, but I intend to keep it going. But we want support, we want recognition that we have these problems, and we want the Government to do something about it." It is not correct to say that business is booming—business is struggling and will continue to struggle. The business community wants to know that its efforts to keep the businesses open will be supported by the Government doing its part and cleaning up the streets. The Government should do what it can to attract business back to Cabramatta. It has a very nice shopping centre, with a fabulous variety of food, restaurants and shops.
People want to know that if they go to Cabramatta that they will be able to enjoy the food and shopping without falling over those who are drugged out of their minds. I visited Cabramatta in broad daylight and saw 10 deals being conducted. The people who live and work in Cabramatta know that is happening and want it cleaned up so that when anyone, including any member of this Chamber, visits Cabramatta they will be able to enjoy the amenities and not be concerned about the deals or about being hassled. Anyone who has been to Cabramatta would know about the aggressiveness of the dealers. They offer heroin to people they do not even know. The people of Cabramatta do not want that in their streets or in their community. The Opposition supports them in their fight to clean up their streets.
The Premier referred to the discussion about drug houses. Again, that is an important issue. On a previous visit to Cabramatta I was shown the location of some drug houses. I was also taken into the parks near those drug houses and shown the gear on the ground—the used needles, the foils, the whole bit. The issue is not only about shutting down the drug houses, it is also about cleaning up the whole community. It is about making sure that children can play in parks and not have to worry about needlestick injuries. The Opposition will look carefully at the details of the Premier's proposal, but we urge him to make sure that his whole-of-government approach includes cleaning up the local parks of Cabramatta.
The Premier also talked about the new loitering laws. I assume that the legislation will apply to the whole of the State. How will the Premier distinguish between the imposition of the loitering laws in Cabramatta and in Kings Cross? An injecting room is about to be opened in Kings Cross, if the Government can get it sorted out. How will police in the Kings Cross area deal with this law when they know that people will be loitering outside the injecting room doing deals? Will people in Cabramatta be treated differently to those in Kings Cross or will the law apply across the State? I am not sure how it will be applied. The Opposition agrees with the Premier that it is about time Cabramatta police station was re-upgraded. Such an upgrade is vital. Let us give credit where it is due. The reason for the upgrade is because the shadow Minister for Police has fought long and hard for it. He has been far more vocal about Cabramatta than has the honourable member for Cabramatta, who has repeatedly said that there was no problem in Cabramatta.
The Premier also referred to compulsory treatment. The Opposition supports the notion of more treatment. However, the latest figures from the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre show that there are 35,400 dependent heroin addicts in New South Wales. That is 48 or 49 per cent of the national total. The Premier said today that 500 extra places for treatment would be made available. At present only one in four people seeking treatment can access it. An extra 500 positions will not make a huge dent, particularly with the introduction of compulsory treatment. An extra 500 will barely be a drop in the bucket. A lot more than 500 places will be needed, and a lot more trained and qualified staff will be required to deal with those people. The Government should not only provide extra places but also ensure the availability of qualified staff to treat those people.
The Opposition accepts, as the Premier has said, the need for a range of treatments. However, I am concerned that the Premier will continue to expand the methadone program. That seems to be the easiest solution because methadone can be distributed without the need for further treatment. Addicts can now get methadone from pharmacists. Methadone merely defers the problem. People do not rid themselves of an addiction; they swap one addiction for another. The use of methadone rather than heroin is not necessarily a great result. I have been told by clinicians that it is much harder to get off methadone than heroin. I urge caution in that regard. I heard the Premier talk of teams from the Department of Community Services, but I did not hear him make an announcement about extra positions for juveniles. I understand that eight beds are available for juveniles in New South Wales. If the Premier is serious about young people accessing services, he should make sure that substantially more positions are available to help young people get off drugs.
My overall concern about today's announcement is that this is yet another announcement about another package for Cabramatta. The Premier referred to the failed approaches of the past. I remind him of his own approach announced in 1997. The 1997 Cabramatta plan was going to clean up the streets of Cabramatta. It was going to tackle drug dealing in the streets, take the addicts off the streets and make sure that Cabramatta became the community it is entitled to be. Since the Premier announced that plan in 1997, drug-related crime and the number of people involved in drugs who are now regular attendees at Cabramatta have increased. Since the Premier announced his Cabramatta strategy in 1997 there has been no real or substantial improvement in the drug situation in Cabramatta. The Premier must ensure that any announcement he makes about Cabramatta today shows real results. It needs to be an ongoing program. It should not be, as has happened in the past, that a few police officers and health workers are moved in for a short period of time and then moved out again.
The only way we will resolve the problems of Cabramatta is with a sustained approach for a long period of time and a real commitment from the Government to address the issues that exist in Cabramatta. We cannot have another public relations exercise that is designed for the media and to make people feel good but does not deliver results. The people of Cabramatta—and Fairfield and all the areas that are suffering from drug-related problems—need a serious, long-term commitment from this Government to address the issue of drug-related crime. The matter will not be resolved overnight. It will not be resolved in 24 hours, 48 hours, a week, a month or a year. If we are going to get to the core of the drug issues in this State and address the crime issues that arise from drug taking, we must follow a sustained approach over many years. It cannot be the Cabramatta strategy 2001, a public relations exercise just for the cameras.
The Opposition has been campaigning long and hard about Cabramatta's problems. We have been working with the community to put pressure on the Government to try to resolve the issues. Today's announcement by the Premier has followed through and may go some way towards addressing some of the issues. We will need to look at the detail of the proposed legislation. We will also need to look at the detail of the package because the Premier failed to give notice that he was going to make this announcement today. Such behaviour is not atypical of the Premier.
We will support any initiatives that will battle the curse of drug addiction in this State. I, like the Premier, support the Prime Minister's initiative to ensure that parents talk to their children about drugs. The Opposition applauds any initiative to dissuade young people from getting involved in drugs. As I have said, we must take an ongoing, sustained and comprehensive approach to drugs. Our approach has to be ongoing over an extended period of time. The problem has not arisen overnight and it will not go away overnight. Unless the Premier and the Government are prepared to properly resource and attack this problem we, or others in our place, will be here in 20 years time still talking about it. We must all be committed to working towards a drug-free society in New South Wales.
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