Subjects: Drug policies; petrol snifing diversion project; education policy
E&OE................................
Thank you very much, Denis Burke, Chief Minister of the Northern Territory; to Mr Gerard Keating, the Principal of St Johns, students of St Johns, ladies and gentlemen.
I'm very happy to be with you and I'd like to particularly welcome Major Brian Watters who's not only a serving officer of the Salvation Army but in the context of today's launch he's Chairman of the National Council on Drugs and one of the principal advisers to me on drugs. And somebody who's been at the forefront of the Tough on Drugs strategy which has involved the commitment of an additional $500 million by the Federal Government in fighting the scourge of drugs within our community.
I think everybody who read those quite moving and for me very important articles in The Australian newspaper which spelt out to people who don't live here and who don't have day-to-day contact with the drug problem, the devastating effects on young lives from petrol sniffing. They were amongst some of the more pathetic and moving newspaper articles that I've read in the time that I've been in politics. And they had an effect on me, as my staff will testify, so we have to demonstrate initially with a commitment of money for some pilot projects a determination by the Federal Government out of the money that we're making available to the Territory from the Tough On Drugs strategy to see if we can find some way of tackling this terrible problem.
So in the end you know better as a school community than I do that providing people with love and security in their families and in their school and community environment is the best antidote of all against the kind of behaviour that drives people into drugs. And there can never be a substitute for that. And if young people don't have that they miss out on something that other young people have. But communities and governments can try and make some difference. They can augment what families and schools do and that is what these programmes under Tough on Drugs are designed to do.
There's a common misconception and that misconception in the community amongst those people who believe that the answer to the drug problem is to throw up your arms and say nothing can be done and we ought to legalise it all and encourage people that it's just part of life - there's a common misconception by those people that all of the money and all of the effort that governments have put in to tackling the drug problem, all of it's been to no avail. Now, I'd be the last to assert to you that we're anywhere near on top of the problem. We often feel as though we're running on the spot or even going backwards but we are making progress. There are some great stories. There is evidence that the seizure of drugs such as cocaine and heroin have increased dramatically and it's starting to have some effect within the Australian community.
There is cooperation across the political divide in Australia between the Federal Government and the State governments in providing rehabilitation facilities. When it comes to an issue like drugs political differences mean nothing to me and I'm happy to work closely with political opponents at a State level in order to provide proper programmes because this is one of those things that is undeniably above politics.
And what I'm announcing today is Commonwealth funding of $1 million to reduce the problem of petrol sniffing in the Northern Territory. We intend to establish a number of pilot programmes. We'll work with communities such as St Johns. We want to find out what are the best ways in which we can, at an early stage through early intervention, that age old adage that prevention is better than cure applies in relation to illicit drug taking probably more than it does in any other area. Part of our approach is to educate people about the consequences of drugs. Part of our approach is to make them unfashionable. Part of our approach is to persuade people that not commencing drug taking is the best way, not believing that you can handle it and minimise the harm and get on top of it if it threatens to be a problem. There are plenty of devastated lives that are testimony to the fact that that is absolutely impossible and that the best way of tackling this problem is to educate people against the dangers of it.
Now, this initiative is a beginning by the Federal Government. We want to work with local communities. We want to understand the particular needs of indigenous communities in relation to this problem. And the initiative will commence with an initial pilot with funding of $150,000 to be undertaken in the top end. And subject to evaluation of this pilot the remaining funding will be used to expand the approach to other communities.
As I said earlier we've committed $500 million, which represents the largest ever investment by a Federal Government in tackling the problem of drugs. And it has started to yield results. Drug hauls in the last two financial years have been five times larger than the average seizure of heroin and cocaine for each year between 1990 and 1996. The cynics will say that means more of it's coming into the country. The realists will see it as not necessarily saying that more is not coming in but as evidence that the law enforcement effort supported by the additional resources of the Federal Government have started to bite and have started to become more effective.
But it is a never-ending battle and it does involve three components. It involves educating and intervening at an early stage to prevent people falling into the patterns of social behaviour and despair that lead to drug taking. It means educating young people about the dangers of drug taking, including the dangers of the use of cannabis, of marijuana, this belief that somehow or other that is a safe drug and it has no debilitating effects is disproved time and time and time again. It also means strong law enforcement. It also means providing adequate rehabilitation facilities and rehabilitation facilities have not been adequate in the past and we are working with governments at both the state and territory level to try and improve that.
I've taken a very strong personal interest in this issue. I believe it represents one of the greatest threats to the essential fabric of our society, it's a source of despair and concern to so many parents and it's something that strikes across the social/economic divide. It's not just to be found in certain communities, it's to be found everywhere and it's very important that the government's response reach everywhere. And here our response is to try and provide a lead, a help in the Northern Territory, particularly in relation to petrol sniffing and the horrible effects of that I think are familiar to so many of you.
And I am very grateful to St John's for providing me with the forum and the opportunity for this launch. And can I take the opportunity in the presence of the Principal and in the presence of the Director of Catholic Education in the Northern Territory to reaffirm the federal government's very strong support for the Catholic education system. The decisions that we took a few months ago maintain the funding level, the existing funding levels of schools that might otherwise have been affected by the introduction of the new SES system and result in significant levels of funding increase for other schools that were not receiving as much commonwealth assistance. We believe very strongly in choice in education and we've given very strong very strong effect to that in the announcements that we have made.
But I am delighted to have the opportunity of launching this initiative. I hope it will make a difference. It's intended to and it's designed to tackle at its source a horrible social challenge and something that I know frightens the daylights of parents, out of parents all around Australia. Thank you.
[Ends]