Ice Taskforce

The Hon. A.L. McLACHLAN (15:03): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Police a question in regard to the Ice Taskforce.

Leave granted.

The Hon. A.L. McLACHLAN: The minister announced the Ice Taskforce on 14 February this year and has since stated that the task force has had a hard deadline of 60 days. Earlier, in response to a question, he alluded to the government currently considering a response. My questions to the minister are: when will the report be released or tabled in parliament, and when is the minister anticipating the government will be able to provide a response?

The Hon. P. MALINAUSKAS (Minister for Police, Minister for Correctional Services, Minister for Emergency Services, Minister for Road Safety) (15:04): Thank you to the honourable member for his question. It's a good one and an important one. The government is currently in the process of developing its position. Naturally, some of those considerations need to be done in the context of the state budget, and the budget process is obviously well in train.

We would hope that the cabinet would be able to finalise the government's position in coming weeks regarding the Ice Taskforce response and, of course, very quickly after that it will be known publicly.