IMMIGRATION MINISTER:
Ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much for being here. I am very pleased the Prime Minister has taken time today. As you all know he is very committed to helping families facing terrible, terrible issues around ice. We have announced this week $18 million to go into further support for intelligence based information gathering and that is going to help our frontline officers. One of the big battlegrounds for us in the fight against ice is at our borders and our country has to have secure borders, and one of the ways in which we've provided significant support to our ABF officers is through $88 million, which we provided last year that has helped us to increase the amount of scanning that goes on at facilities like this, and I want to pay tribute to our commissioner, to all of the frontline staff within ABF. They do fantastic work, and they have increased the number of detections over the course of the last 12 months.
The Prime Minister has, as I've said, committed himself again today with $1 million to go into the ‘Dob in a Dealer’ hotline and Prime Minister, can I hand over to you to provide some information on that and also that which we've seen here today.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, thanks so much Peter. It's good to be here at the DHL facility at Brisbane Airport. It's good to be here with the Commissioner Quaedvlieg of the Border Protection Force and Commander McTavish of the AFP. This is the front line of border protection, because as we know, so much illegal drug running is taking place into our country through air cargo, sea cargo and the post. Now, as all of you know, this is a Government which is every day focused on jobs, growth and community safety. Yesterday in Adelaide I was talking about jobs and growth, but today here in Brisbane I'm very much focused on community safety. Plainly, what the people of Australia want is to be protected against the scourge of ice. This is the worst illegal drug yet seen because it doesn't just damage your mental health, it gives you a propensity to violence when you're on an ice bender and one of the things we've noticed is a dramatic increase in assaults on frontline health staff because of the number of people who are being taken to emergency departments in the middle of these terrible ice benders.
So, at every level of Government, at every level of detection and interception, we've got to lift our effort. As Minister Dutton just pointed out, during the week we committed an extra $18 million to overseas criminal intelligence gathering so that we could detect more of these drugs at source. We're unveiling today these mobile examination vehicles and you saw the border protection screening operations in there, which is about keeping the border secure and today as Minister Dutton indicated, I'm announcing that the Government will commit $1 million to Crime Stoppers to extend nationally the successful ‘Dob in a Dealer’ hotline, which has been operating for some time in Victoria and which, as I understand it, in difference parts of the State, has resulted in a 100 per cent to 400 per cent increase in community information coming in about these drug dealers.
So, whether it's overseas at source, whether it's here on our border, or whether it's in the community, we need to mobilise against drugs. There are no excuses for illegal drugs – no excuses. They always hurt you. The first time you use these drugs they damage you, and if you become enslaved to drugs, your life will be destroyed – your life will be destroyed if you become enslaved to drugs. So, that's why this Government is absolutely committed to doing everything we can in conjunction with our state and territory colleagues to keep Australia safe from this deadly scourge.
QUESTION:
Prime Minister, Nick Xenophon is calling for mandatory rehabilitation programmes. It’s something that Jacqui Lambie has also flagged – is that something you are considering?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, certainly, I think it's very important that people who are before the courts on ice offences, on drug offences more generally, are dealt with appropriately and yes, rehabilitation is important, but punishment is important too. Taking people off the streets who are drug dealers is important, too. Attacking the Mr Bigs of drugs, that's important and that's why I'm hoping to have more to say in coming weeks about unexplained wealth legislation. So, at every level we've got to tackle this, but what I want to make absolutely crystal clear is that while there are all sorts of explanations for people being on drugs, dealing in drugs, we can't make excuses for this kind of crime just like we don't make excuses for drink-driving. If you drink drive, you have the book thrown at you, and it should be the same with this, as well.
QUESTION:
For those who ‘dob in a drug dealer’, should they be financially rewarded?
PRIME MINISTER:
No, we're not talking about that, we're simply talking about giving people more opportunity and encouragement to do the right thing by our community. If you see criminal behaviour taking place, or if you suspect that criminal behaviour is taking place, you have a duty to do what you can and the ‘Dob in a Dealer’ hotline will give you more opportunity to do more in this area.
QUESTION:
But they can already do that, can't they? They can just contact Crime Stoppers?
PRIME MINISTER:
Yes, certainly this very day if you think something untoward is happening, please ring Crime Stoppers, but what we're going to do is give an additional $1 million to Crime Stoppers, so that dobbing in dealers can be promoted and encouraged.
QUESTION:
When you say unexplained wealth are you talking about essentially seizing assets?
PRIME MINISTER:
If for argument's sake, you are living in the lap of luxury, but your occupation is for argument's sake that which would not normally produce that kind of lifestyle, they're the sort of people that we need to have a good, hard look at and if it does turn out that unexplained wealth is the product of crime, then we need a means of dealing with it.
QUESTION:
Is this legislation that you're considering a result of the national ice taskforce recommendations?
PRIME MINISTER:
As you know, we've got a range of things happening; there was the announcement during the week, there's the announcement today, there's the Ken Lay-led taskforce which will be making recommendations to COAG shortly. I have received an interim report from the Ken Lay taskforce and yes, unexplained wealth legislation is an important element of that.
QUESTION:
[Inaudible]
PRIME MINISTER:
One of the things I've asked Minister Keenan to look at is working with state and territories to get tougher penalties for people who assault frontline health staff while on these terrible ice benders, because if people do the wrong thing there have got to be consequences and people need to know that being on an ice bender is very much doing the wrong thing and if you do damage to people while you're on an ice bender there should be very serious consequences indeed.
QUESTION:
Senator George Brandis has said today that he is optimistic that a resolution will be made on same-sex marriage?
PRIME MINISTER:
Look, obviously there are some loose ends that are yet to be tied up, but the fundamental decision has been made and the fundamental decision is that this Government in the next term of Parliament will put this very important question to the people for their decision. So the distinction between the Government and the Opposition on this, between the Coalition and the Labor Party on this, is that the Coalition supports the traditional definition of marriage between a man and a woman, but we won't seek to bind people beyond this term of Parliament and in the next term of Parliament, it will be a people's decision. Labor wants it to be a politician's decision.
QUESTION:
Wouldn't it be better value for money to put the question at the same time as the federal election?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, that's certainly an argument that people are able to make, but I think the people should be able to consider this in its own right. This is an important community debate. Lots of people – millions of people in our community – have strong views one way or another on this and why shouldn't we be able to debate this and decide this in its own right without being distracted by the sorts of arguments which you inevitably get during an election campaign?
QUESTION:
The Cabinet seems to have opposing views on whether it should be a referendum or a plebiscite. We understand it's going to be discussed at the Cabinet meeting tomorrow. Which side do you come down on?
PRIME MINISTER:
The important thing is that it will be a people's decision. That's the point. We are absolutely resolved that this will be a people's decision. If you vote for the Coalition at the next election, there'll be a people's decision. If you vote for the Labor Party at the next election, you're voting for a politicians' decision.
QUESTION:
George Brandis says a referendum would effectively be a waste of time, a plebiscite would be too expensive. There seems to be enormous division amongst your own Party, wouldn’t you agree?
PRIME MINISTER:
No, I don't accept that at all. There was a very strong disposition that emerged from the Party Room last week and let's not forget it was a very long and very thorough discussion. More than 90 members of the Coalition Party Room spoke, but there was a very strong disposition that emerged from that Party Room that because of the nature of this issue it's best decided by the people and not by the politicians.
QUESTION:
This is how it's going to go?
PRIME MINISTER:
That’s exactly right, as I said, a very, very strong disposition emerged from the Coalition Party Room last week that because this is an important question for our whole community, because this is an issue on which people, decent people can disagree, it's something that should go to the people. So, under us, this will be a people's decision. Under Labor it will be a politicians' decision.
QUESTION:
Prime Minister, what is your reaction to claims that asylum seekers have been tortured at Nauru?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, I'd say they're false. I’d say they're absolutely false and if people have evidence to the contrary, let it be produced.
QUESTION:
There's been a couple of major drug busts this week of ice involving or linked allegedly to bikies. What would you say to the Labor Government, the state government, which is reviewing elements of the tough anti-bikie laws? Do you think it's a good idea?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well the first point to make is I don't normally offer gratuitous advice to my state colleagues, but as a general principle we have got to be tough on crime and on the causes of crime and on the perpetrators of crime, and it's well known that something like 70 per cent of the ice dealing in this country is associated with organised crime gangs, particularly bikie gangs. Now, these bikie gangs are at the very heart of crime in this country and it's important that we crack down on them. These bikie gangs have tentacles stretching into just about every dark nook and cranny and corner of our society, whether it be illegal behaviour on building sites, thuggery on building sites, whether it be importing ice or indeed producing ice, whether it be stand-over tactics and protection rackets in different elements of our society, the bikie gangs are at the heart of it. That's why I certainly urge all my state and territory counterparts to be strong and vigilant and as far as the Commonwealth is concerned, we very early on in the life of this Government set up this national gangs taskforce so that right around Australia we are maintaining the toughest possible approach against these dreadful criminal gangs.
Thanks so much.
[ends]