Subjects: Illicit Drug Diversion Initiative; detention centres; cricket; New Year.
E&OE...........
MACSWEEN:
I have the Prime Minister on the line. Good afternoon, Prime Minister.
PRIME MINISTER:
Good afternoon, Pru. Nice to talk to you.
MACSWEEN:
You too. We're seeing you everywhere, aren't you supposed to be on holidays?
PRIME MINISTER:
No, I go on holidays tonight.
MACSWEEN:
Oh, I bet you're counting the hours.
PRIME MINISTER:
Yes, I'll still be around. I'm not going away, but Mr Anderson will be taking over as Acting Prime Minister from tomorrow.
MACSWEEN:
All right, I know you've earned it. The newspaper headline today say zero drug tolerance now gets a hat. Have you decided on a different approach because the others weren't working?
PRIME MINISTER:
No, that headline's quite misleading, quite misleading. What I've announced this morning is a renewal and continuation of the rehabilitation component of the "Tough on Drugs" approach. It has three elements - one of them is law enforcement, second is education and the other element is rehabilitation. And what we have been doing in cooperation with the states over the last three years is to fund additional rehabilitation services for people who are beginning to be caught up in the criminal justice system and under the diversion program that we run with the states, they're offered the alternative of going into rehabilitation rather than running the risk of going to jail or getting caught up otherwise with the criminal justice system. And that diversion program has worked very well, our contribution to it is the money to fund additional rehabilitation services and because it's been quite successful, the Government has decided to continue it for another four years and will be putting $215 million into it over a period of four years. And that means about $325 million has been committed by the Federal Government in an area which is normally the responsibility of the States to provide rehabilitation services which have been sadly lacking around Australia over the last few years.
MACSWEEN:
And PM, do you have any figures on how many people have opted for this diversion program, this rehabilitation program rather than going to jail?
PRIME MINISTER:
I don't have a nationwide total, a precise total, but it certainly runs into the hundreds, perhaps even more than that. And the value of it over the last three years has been that we've kept people out of, effectively, out of jail and in the process helped them kick the habit. But nothing that I'm announcing today in any way lessens our emphasis on people being encouraged not to start taking drugs in the first place. The zero tolerance approach, if you like, remains. And what I'm announcing today is a continuation of something that has sat side by side with that approach over the past three years.
MACSWEEN:
Some people we';ve been talking to on talkback radio are concerned about this approach of harm minimisation rather than getting tough, a tougher approach.
PRIME MINISTER:
I agree with them and that's why we say "Tough on Drugs". Harm minimisation suggests that it's okay to start it, providing you do it in moderation and providing there are programs around to mitigate the effects of drugs. I don't share that view. The message we should communicate to young people is don't start illicit drugs in the first place, don't even start marijuana. And I notice the NSW Government, which on other occasions has been slightly weaker in its approach to drugs than I've been a la the heroin injecting rooms, has announced a campaign to discourage people from using marijuana. Well, I applaud the NSW Government for doing that. I think it is the right approach and it's an approach that I've certainly had for a long time. And marijuana does cause depression; it does lead to suicide; it can lead to people using hard drugs. The idea that you should say turn a blind eye to marijuana and say it's okay, is wrong. Now that doesn't mean to say that abuse of alcohol is acceptable, it's not acceptable either. But there is medical evidence drawing a very strong link between marijuana use and depression and therefore suicide.
MACSWEEN:
Are you planning to increase the funding of the other prongs of the diversion program - the law enforcement and the education?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, we're certainly going to maintain what we're doing there, but at this stage the funding that's already been allocated has some time to run.
MACSWEEN:
On the other issue of the cricket, which is something close to a lot of our hearts. Of course, there's been a bit of a hot potato between the ICC and the Australian and British Governments each saying that it should be the decision of the other. How can this be resolved? I know you're supporting a boycott.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, my view is that none of the teams should play in Zimbabwe. It is not my view that only the Australian team should refuse to play in Zimbabwe - that's imposing an unfair burden on our cricketers and I certainly wouldn't do that. What's going to happen is that we and other governments are talking about the matter with a view to going back to the International Cricket Council and asking them to reconsider the issue. In the end because we are democratic societies we can't force, and we wouldn't try to force the International Cricket Council to abandon the Zimbabwe part of the World Cup. But my views and the views of the Australian Government and the British Government and indeed the New Zealand Government and others on Zimbabwe have been well known and we're sorry that the International Cricket Council has taken the position it has. In the end, it still has the authority because it runs the sport, we don't run the sport and we are democracies and that's what, in a sense, the debate in Zimbabwe is all about. The election over there was stolen by the incumbent government, you've just seen a government in Kenya change as a result of the democratic process, that wasn't allowed to happen in Zimbabwe and it's a very important point to bear in mind when considering this issue.
MACSWEEN:
We've had a lot of calls about the vandalism of our detention centres as well, PM. Is the Government intending to get a tougher approach with these vandals?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, they will be punished in accordance with the law, but they are already in detention. I just want to make it clear that if anybody thinks they can alter our policy by setting fire to detention centres, then they're wrong. That won't alter our policy one iota.
MACSWEEN:
And punishment, you'll let go through the normal processes…?
PRIME MINISTER:
… of the law, it's not for me to, in an ad hoc fashion, start talking about punishments. There are laws, state and federal laws, and those laws will be enforced as they should be.
MACSWEEN:
Well, all that remains is for us to wish you a happy new year. I guess, we've got to ask you though if you've got a new year's resolution?
PRIME MINISTER:
I have held the view for some time that it's a little corny of prime ministers to get into that… I do have a New Year thought though and particularly for the men and women of the Australian Defence Forces who are serving overseas and very particularly, also for the police and people in emergency services who do so much in so many ways to make not only the new year's eve, but also the rest of the year secure and enjoyable. This year's been a pretty hard year for Australia because of Bali and that will be very much on our minds as we celebrate tonight. But despite all of that, we must look at the coming year with a sense of hope and optimism and we have a lot of reason for that.
MACSWEEN:
Quiet celebration for you tonight?
PRIME MINISTER:
Yes, I'm having quite a quiet celebration in Sydney.
MACSWEEN:
Well, have a lovely holiday.
PRIME MINISTER:
Thank you.
MACSWEEN:
Thanks, PM.
PRIME MINISTER:
Bye, bye.
[ends]