State Ice Taskforce

The Hon. J.S.L. DAWKINS (15:00): Further supplementary: will the minister commit to providing information, for instance from an irrigation area like Shepparton, which has had a significant problem, to similar irrigation communities, such as in the Riverland, where there are many of the same circumstances?

The Hon. P. MALINAUSKAS (Minister for Police, Minister for Correctional Services, Minister for Emergency Services, Minister for Road Safety) (15:00): While I appreciate the endeavour and the goodwill that comes with the question, the task force's job is not to be a facilitator of sharing information between two particular communities that are capable of doing that themselves. The task force is charged with the responsibility of developing a very clear and specific policy response to what we can do to tackle the issue of ice use.

We have been going around and hearing from communities across the state, as identified earlier, including many regional areas. That is an appropriate thing to do and has been incredibly useful thus far. The task force itself wants to be less preoccupied in terms of being a service-delivery body or an information-sharing body, as distinct from a body that is developing public policy solutions.

Now, if through that exercise—and this has come through—there is the capacity for us to do something that helps facilitate information sharing, that is something that will be actively considered as the task force goes about developing its policy. In terms of the task force itself acting as a conduit to share information between two jurisdictions, that is not the responsibility nor the mandate of the task force.