Drug-Related Sentencing

The Hon. D.G.E. HOOD (15:26): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the minister representing the Attorney-General a question about drug-related crime sentencing in South Australia.

Leave granted.

The Hon. D.G.E. HOOD: In October 2012, the police found an estimated $10 million worth of illicit drugs on a property with connection to a particular defendant, including more than 7.5 kilograms of raw and processed methamphetamine. The police also seized more than $100,000 in cash and, allegedly, a firearm as well. That was back in 2012, but recently that case was heard in the District Court and one of the defendants in this particular case, who actually pleaded guilty to manufacturing a large commercial quantity of a controlled drug, was given a suspended sentence. This is just one of many similar sentences handed out in similar circumstances.

As a result of this a recent Sunday Mail poll that no doubt members would have seen late last year, found that 61.7 per cent of respondents felt that judges were 'out of touch with community values'. Moreover, 74.2 per cent believed that penalties were 'too lenient'. Reflecting upon this particular case and others, my questions to the minister are:

1. Does the minister agree that cases which involve serious criminal offending, particularly with respect to manufacturing a large commercial quantity of illicit substances, but result in very light sentences—indeed, suspended sentences in many cases—would cause the public to lose confidence in the criminal justice system, and what impact does the minister believe that would have on police force morale?

2. Will the government consider introducing further legislative guidance to assist the judiciary in handing down sentences that are more in line with contemporary community expectations?

The Hon. P. MALINAUSKAS (Minister for Police, Minister for Correctional Services, Minister for Emergency Services, Minister for Road Safety) (15:28): I thank the Hon. Mr Hood for his important questions. The Hon. Mr Hood referred to a number of statistics in his questions that speak to community confidence in our criminal justice system. As I outlined in the prior question, South Australians having confidence around their own community safety can manifest itself in a number of ways, including their confidence with our enforcement agencies, particularly SAPOL, but we would like to see that replicated in their confidence in the criminal justice system altogether. Of course, the courts are an incredibly important component of that.

The questions were put to me in my capacity representing the Attorney-General in this place so there are components that I will take on notice and seek a response from the Attorney-General, but if I may indulge I would like to attempt to address a few of the issues, in my capacity as police minister, which the Hon. Mr Hood has referred to. Mr Hood, through his question, referred to a particular case that speaks to a drug seizure of methamphetamine. That speaks entirely to the issue and the concern that the government and I have regarding methamphetamine generally—a drug that is otherwise known and referred to as ice.

It would be naive to suggest that we have a full understanding of the picture and the problem at hand in regard to ice within our community. As I have been getting around, talking to front-line men and women working in the South Australian police force, it has astounded me how regularly and how consistently they raise the issue of ice as being all pervasive in them undertaking their front-line duties to keep our communities safe.

Ice is a genuine problem. I reflect on a story or a message that was conveyed to me by a very experienced police officer who was talking to me recently in a regional community. He conveyed to me that he had seen a number of drug crises enter the public consciousness during his time in SAPOL. He said he has seen it with marijuana; he has seen it come and go with speed; he has seen it come and go with cocaine; and he saw an epidemic of heroin and ecstasy. Drugs along these lines have come and gone, capturing the public's attention, but he said that never before has he seen a drug have the same impact that ice seems to be having within the community.

There are a number of reasons for that, once I started quizzing him why he said that. The first one is ease of access. Ice, on all accounts, appears to be relatively cheap to be able to produce and its proliferation within the drug marketplace has resulted in its relatively low price, which means that it is easy to access for many Australian citizens. This is not just a South Australian-centric issue but it is an issue for many Australians. So, there is an issue with price.

Secondly, there is an issue in terms of its relative addictiveness. So many drugs we know are highly addictive, and that brings with it a whole range of social consequences. Ice, apparently, results in a high that is unlike other drugs and results in a level of addiction which is profound, and it can result in quick addiction for those people who attempt to start to use it. So, there is the relative accessibility and there is the relative addiction, but then of course there are also the relative consequences of ice, which are so much more severe than other drugs.

We know that ice has an impact that results in extremely violent behaviour, with people becoming completely psychotic who might otherwise not react that way to another drug. So, this is an issue that we take incredibly seriously, hence my and the Premier's announcement earlier today that an ice task force is being convened. The government looks forward to bringing back a response as quickly as possible from that ice task force, with readily implementable measures, so that we can do as much as we can as quickly as we can with the levers that are available to a state government.