State Ice Taskforce

The Hon. D.G.E. HOOD (15:02): Supplementary question to the minister: will the task force, as part of its work and consideration, examine the impact of the actual sentences handed down by the courts, particularly in the case of those engaged in the manufacture of commercial quantities of crystal methamphetamine? Has the task force examined that issue as to its appropriateness?

The Hon. P. MALINAUSKAS (Minister for Police, Minister for Correctional Services, Minister for Emergency Services, Minister for Road Safety) (15:02): The task force is looking at the penalties that are applying to those people who are involved in the profiteering of either the dealing or the manufacturing of ice.

The chair of the federal government's ice task force that occurred recently—my advice was a former AFP commissioner or at least of high rank—made a remark that has been repeated to me widely by various people, including senior members of SAPOL, that we are not going to arrest our way out of this problem. I accept that.

I also believe that the task force has heard enough evidence to suggest that locking up very low-level users, or indeed low-level dealers who are simply dealing to fund their own habit, doesn't necessarily deliver the good public policy outcome that we are after. Instead, that should be treated, in some respects, as a health issue. We are accepting that evidence. However, the view of the task force, and certainly the view of the government, is that people who are further up the food chain, who are actively manufacturing or supplying this drug for profit and ruining lives in the process, should be held to account rather severely.

As part of that work, the task force is looking at the penalties that are applying to those people who are involved regarding those practices. That work remains underway. Naturally, we have senior members of SAPOL on the task force. We have a former judge, Judge Moss, on the task force as well, who has extensive experience of being involved in the drug court, I understand. We have a number of people who can provide unique perspectives relating to the issues that the Hon. Mr Hood has asked about, and that is something that the task force is working on.