Subjects: National Illicit Drugs Strategy
E&OE..................
Well thank you very much Michael. To Major Brian Watters; to Ross Cameron, the federal member for Parramatta. I think appropriately this launch is taking place in Ermington in the electorate of Parramatta, very much in the middle of middle Australia because this is a campaign which is very direct and very unambiguous in its intent. And I also acknowledge the presence of the Mayor of Parramatta - Councillor Wearne, and my parliamentary colleague Senator Bill Heffernan, and all the other members of the National Council on Drugs which has been so material in helping the government to put together this campaign. And particularly to Professor Margaret Hamilton, the Chairman of the reference group who worked so very hard on collating so much of the material which is contained in the booklet that is going to be distributed to every home in Australia over the next few days.
This is a very direct, some would say confrontational, if so, I offer no apologies for that, unambiguous appeal to the parents of Australia who are our greatest resource in fighting the drug problem to join not only the government but also each other in making a difference by talking to, explaining, discussing, exploring with their children the dangers of beginning to take drugs, the consequences if you do, frankly acknowledging drug taking of their own if that has occurred, exercising patience and understanding, but equally not being afraid to set limits.
There are acres of news print and hours of television and radio time which are committed to describing the dimension of drugs and the impact that they have on the lives of Australian families that they visit with tragedy and death and sadness and a sense of despair and failure. Only last week at a community gathering in Brisbane I was met by a lady clutching a photograph of her daughter who died from an overdose the day before. And all I could do was put my arm around her and say in an all too inadequate way how I would try and understand the sense of loss and devastation that she felt. Of the experiences that I';ve had as a member of Parliament, sitting in my electorate in Gladesville and talking to people whose children have overdosed, whose children have died by their own hand largely in many cases because of the impact of taking drugs.
I am very personally committed to this campaign. I feel a sense of responsibility as the head of the government to be very directly involved. And it';s not a campaign which is obsessed with ideology. It is a campaign that obsessed with concern. It';s obsessed with a desire of finding different ways of trying to help people. It';s based upon three things. It';s based firstly on education and I';ll return to that in a moment. It';s also based on law enforcement, it';s also based on rehabilitation. And as Michael Wooldridge said it';s a campaign, the Tough on Drugs campaign is something that commands in relation to 95% of what it says : the total cooperation across the political divide of all of the governments of Australia.
I';m pleased to say that in the last year I have personally launched diversion programs in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane with the Labor Premiers of New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland. I know that each of them along with the other premiers of Australia, irrespective of their politics, are deeply concerned about the threat posed by drugs to the young in our community. They';re determined to work with me, they';re determined to work with each other and I acknowledge the cooperation of the federal and state health departments, I acknowledge the cooperation of the federal and the state police, and I particularly acknowledge the cooperation of so many welfare voluntary organisations and individual parents who';ve suffered the sadness and tragedy of losing children to drug abuse. I thank all of them for the contributions that they have made.
Now this part of the program seeks quite unashamedly to appeal to the families of Australia to share the burden, to play a part. It encourages them to talk to their children. That';s not always easy. All of us as parents encounter occasions when it';s difficult to broach subjects with our children. None of us is a genius at that. And any Australian parent who feels oh this is a bit difficult my message to them is you are not alone. There are millions of other Australian parents who feel an equal sense of difficulty. As a parent myself I don';t claim any particular expertise. All of us bring to our parental responsibilities, a sense of commitment, a love of our children, and a sense of responsibility about their future. Interestingly enough the research that';s been carried out to underpin this program has revealed the fact that something like 70% of children are anxious to talk to their parents about things such as drugs.
And what this booklet seeks to do in a very understandable, direct, no-nonsense fashion, is to talk about what parents might say to their children in relation to drugs. It doesn';t lecture them, it doesn';t sermonise, it doesn';t moralise, but it does provide information. It provides valuable information about the different substances, about their street names. It provides valuable information about the likely responses of children. It provides valuable guidance for parents. It encourages them not to be judgmental, but it equally imposes them not to be reluctant to set limits.
Like all things in life good parenting is a balance. You shouldn';t drive your children away by sermonising and moralising, but equally you shouldn';t be afraid to set limits because you do bring to the relationship an experience and a maturity which they respect. And trying to achieve that balance is not always easy. But maintaining communication with your children, the ability to talk to them about anything and everything at a time not of planning but at a time when somehow or other through some coincidence of circumstances you both find it convenient and easy to talk. That is the time when parents must seize the moment to talk very directly to their children.
I';m quite unashamed in my view that our strongest defence against the drug problem are families. Properly functioning, stable, united loving families, whatever their composition, are still the best antidote against most of societies ills. So this is a $27 million public education program. It seeks to persuade young Australians not to begin illicit drug taking. It is as simple as that. It';s an old adage that prevention is better than cure. And persuading young Australians not to start drug taking in the first place is still the best remedy. As Michael Wooldridge pointed out this country has a very proud record in relation to public education campaigns on health issues. It';s one of the areas where the rest of the world should follow the Australian example rather than Australia following the rest of the world. Michael mentioned the success of the drink driving campaign, he mentioned the success of the campaign against tobacco consumption. I might also add to that the very successful, in relative terms, campaign in relation to Aids where Australia has been relatively speaking more successful than most other countries.
Now I hope that this campaign, designed very directly and in a way that I hope will make an impact, and in a no holes barred fashion, I hope that what it will do is to encourage millions of parents around Australia to redouble their efforts in relation to their children, particularly in their vulnerable and sensitive years, encourage parents to talk in a sensible, even authoritative, but understanding way to their children. If they can reach them on this subject then we have a real hope in this country of overcoming this problem. It isn';t easy. You can never declare victory. But you can keep trying to make a difference and you can keep trying to enlist the resources and the commitment and the dedication and the goodwill of people throughout the entirety of the Australian community.
I do what to thank Major Brian Watters, the Chairman of the Council, and all the current and former members of the council, for the tremendous effort that have put in to advising me and helping me. Can I say to them and can I say to you ladies and gentlemen that there is a far greater sense of unity and goodwill and commitment throughout the Australian community, both at a government and a non-government level in relation to this problem. There is a strong view that we need to educate our children. There is a strong view that we need to maintain tough law enforcement measures, and there is a strong view that we need more rehabilitation facilities. Our Tough on Drugs strategy in cooperation with the state governments of Australia is designed to do precisely that. In a moment I';ll launch and you will see the television campaign and in launching this campaign and these television advertisements will be shown across au tonight in prime time.
They are designed to provoke, they are designed to provoke discussion and debate and I hope agreement about the need for greater parental involvement. They are designed to remind people of the devastating personal consequences of drug abuse, and above all they are designed to instil in the Australian community a greater sense of urgency and a greater sense of responsibility about this terrible scourge that our community faces. I thank you very warmly for your attendance and I have very great pleasure in launching the National Illicit Drugs Campaign. Thank you.