E&OE...................
Thank you very much Mr Arthur Toon, to Mrs Georgina Hammersley, Mr
John Wyndham, to Rhonda Parker, Brian Watters, the Chairman of the
Prime Minister's Taskforce on Drugs, other distinguished guests, ladies
and gentlemen.
I feel it a particular honour to be here this morning to really do
two things. To rename this complex the Rick Hammersley Centre and
also to launch the Saranna Women's Project and the Indigenous Peoples
Programme which have been granted $528,000 in funding under the Government's
Tough on Drugs programme and both of which are based here.
It is true, as Arthur Toon said in his words of introduction, that
public responses at both the Government and a community level to the
problem of illicit drugs has changed enormously over the last 20 years.
It's one of those issues that unless you had a great deal of patience
and application would drive the public policy maker completely mad
because so much of the media and other focus is on the high profile
differences of emphasis rather than on those areas where most people
who have a conscientious commitment to trying to reduce the damage
done by illicit drugs and to prevent young people starting to use
those drugs in the first place that the points of agreement far outweigh
the points of disagreement.
Over the last two years it is true that the Federal Government and
I in particular have taken a very special interest. We have done so
because we understand it's a huge community problem. That it does
cause immense pain and suffering and visit tragedy on many Australian
families. What we are trying to do is to tackle it at three levels.
We are trying first and foremost to recognise that prevention is always
better than cure. That if you can persuade young people of the ill-wisdom
and the danger of starting drug taking in the first place then you
can prevent a great deal of tragedy.
And I am frequently moved to say that it always surprises me a little
bit when living in an age where tobacco smoking has grown from being
something that was socially acceptable, when I was 21 or 25 and you
all know just about what age I turned last weekend, that it's gone
from being socially acceptable to being something that is socially
unacceptable. And that cigarette smokers have now become, and I abandoned
the terrible habit 20 years ago myself, have become almost social
outcasts yet some of the people who are the most zealous advocates
of a no smoking policy find themselves in disagreement with some of
us who adopt very, very strong attitudes towards anything other than
a completely intolerant approach to the use of illicit drugs.
So the first responsibility is to educate young people about the dangers
of starting. The second area of responsibility, not necessarily less
important, is to make certain that the law enforcement authorities
of Australia have enough resources at their disposal to tackle people
who peddle death and human misery and peddle drugs.
And the third area of responsibility, and this is where this wonderful
establishment Cyrenian House comes into play, the third area of responsibility
is to provide help and assistance for people who want to stop using
illicit drugs and want to rehabilitate themselves and to restore their
health and to rebuild their lives.
[Inaudible] of all of the areas the third one over the years has probably
been more neglected than the other two because there was always, I
guess, a strong body of opinion in the community that you shouldn't
start using illicit drugs. And there was always a community detestation
of the criminals who are involved in peddling drugs to people in our
community. But over the years the facilities for rehabilitation have
not been adequate and it is one of the areas where more resources
have been needed for a long time. And it's been an emphasis of our
programme. And over the last two years the Federal Government has
committed about $500 million to its Tough on Drugs strategy. And we
have given extra support in those three areas.
Unlike what some of our critics say, we haven't put all of the money
into law enforcement although we have put a lot more into law enforcement.
We have also put a lot of resources in education and I am particularly
pleased to say that we have put a lot of resources into rehabilitation.
Recently at a meeting I had with the Premiers and Chief Ministers
of the States and Territories we decided on a programme of what we
call adopting a diversion strategy whereby within effect giving to
people who are having their first contact with the criminal justice
system as a result of illicit drug use. We are giving them the option
of undergoing treatment rather than being caught up in the criminal
justice system. It's their choice as to whether they get caught up
or not but they do have the option and the option is, I think, in
most cases one that's going to appeal to them and appeal to the community.
And we are getting a lot of cooperation from the State governments
and the consultations that are taking place between the Federal Government
which is going to provide a lot more money to fund rehabilitation
programmes. And the State authorities which, of course, are responsible
for the criminal justice system, the cooperation so far has been terrific.
And that's the background from which we come and that is why I have
a special interest in being here today because today we are honouring
the contribution of the late Rick Hammersley to this centre. And his
contribution, of course, was related to the tragic loss of a child
more than 20 years ago and he from that time on he devoted his time
and his energy and his great skill and his great sense of community
responsibility to providing an assistance mechanism, a support mechanism.
His own experience had been that he had to go to Sydney to obtain
treatment for his child and he recognised the paucity of resources
and facilities here in Western Australia that he quite correctly resolved
to try and do something about it. And his story and the story of this
centre is a magnificent reminder of the value of what I describe as
the social coalition in our community. And that is where you get people
working together, each with their own expertise, providing an input
to achieve a community goal. In building this centre he got a great
deal of support from various organisations. He got support from Rotary,
he got support, I understand, from the Lotteries Commission, he got
support from different sporting organisations, from various community
organisations, he got support from individuals who were concerned
and, of course, he got, and this centre has received very generous
support from the Western Australian Government I think in the order
of at least $500,000 or $600,000 a year to keep this centre going.
So it is a great example of how somebody turned and converted an immense
personal tragedy of his own and his family's to a noble community
purpose. He saw a need in the community and he set about doing something
about it. And as a result you have a centre here which I am delighted
to have the privilege of re-naming the Rick Hammersley Centre today,
which has provided a source of hope and encouragement to a large number
of people who are dealing with a drug problem. Its facilities, which
I'm going to have an opportunity of having a look at after this opening
ceremony has completed, are very high quality facilities. And they
do provide residential facilities for something in the order of 200
people and that is a very large number by any measure. And this is
exactly the sort of facility that we should be encouraging. It provides
people with some hope for the future. It recognises that different
personalities grapple with a personal and emotional challenge and
a physical addiction in different ways. Some find it harder than others.
Some find it easier than others. Some people need different measures
of support and different levels of assistance than others. And the
challenge for all of us, without in any way weakening our resolve
to educate the young from the very early years against the evil of
drug taking, we do have a particular responsibility to provide help
for those who want to get off it.
And I've taken part in a lot of media interviews on this issue, particularly
over the last year where it's been something very much in the public
eye and in the news. But I don't think I've had more unsettling, distressing
phone calls than I've had from people in different parts of Australia
who ring in to talkback radio stations and say, I have a daughter
who's got a drug problem and she wants to do something about it and
I've got to wait two or three weeks before I can get some kind of
treatment for her. The reality is, and I'm not a doctor, I'm not a
clinical psychologist, I'm just another human being trying to understand
the sense of despair and distress that people have. I would imagine
that if you have a drug addiction and you've finally resolved in your
own mind and heart that you want to do something about it, it's pretty
important that you get help straight away and that you're not told
that there isn't any treatment facility available for two or three
weeks. Now, that's a gap that has to be filled. It's a need that has
to be met. And Cyrenian House, soon to be re-named the Rick Hammersley
Centre, is providing that kind of assistance. And it's the responsibility
of governments at all levels on both sides of politics without the
encumbrance and burden of political point scoring to do something
about this immense social problem.
We do have a capacity in Australia to find an Australian solution
to the particular dimension of a problem in our society. We are not
like any other country, although we have similar experiences, each
country has its own particular experience and it has its own particular
responses and its own particular challenges.
So can I say to all of you that I'm especially privileged to be here
today. I know that Mrs Georgina Hammersley, Rick's widow, and a number
of members of their family are also present. I do want, on behalf
of the Federal Government and, I believe, on behalf of the entire
community, to pay tribute to the work that he did, to thank him for
what he did for this community, to thank him for the humanitarian
gesture involved in 20 years of work to tackle a dreadful scourge
within our community. Our society is the better for what he contributed
and it is a nobler and better place as a result of the contribution
that he made. And for that reason, in particular, I am delighted -
if I can be directed towards what I have to pull - I am delighted
to re-name this facility, I re-name it the Rick Hammersley Centre.
[Ends]