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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, First Session (54-1)
2019-06-04 Daily Xml
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Grievance Debate

Drug-Related Crime

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN (Lee) (15:08): I rise to speak on an alarming trend—that is, the increase in drug-fuelled crime on our suburban streets. Increasingly, on the evening news we are seeing this drug-related criminal activity, and it is to my great disappointment that I report to the house that it is happening with all too much prevalence in my electorate.

I am also aware that I am not the only local MP whose community is suffering from this. It is happening in our local streets in a large number of suburbs in the metropolitan area and it is also happening across regional communities. This criminal activity is horrifying for those living nearby, and it is disturbing more generally for all of us in South Australia that our communities are suffering from this.

In my electorate of Lee, over this past weekend there have been two incidents that have left many of my constituents living in fear. In Seaton, at 5.30am on Sunday, police patrols and ambulance crews were called to Pedlar Street after reports of a man having been injured following an altercation with a man known to him, after being allegedly struck in the head with a stick. The reports of the incident on the evening news were shocking, with one resident explaining that he heard a group of males shouting, 'I want my drugs. I want my effing drugs.'

In Semaphore Park a few hours earlier, at 12.30am on Sunday, patrols and paramedics were called to a house on West Street after a man had received cuts to his arm. A woman was later charged with aggravated assault causing serious harm. This follows an incident in late March this year, when a townhouse complex on Tapleys Hill Road, Seaton, was shot at, leaving numerous bullet holes in the property.

Many families who live between West Lakes Boulevard, Tapleys Hill Road, Frederick Road and Trimmer Parade in Seaton and also in Semaphore Park have had to experience disruption on their local streets for too long. SAPOL is well aware of the issues facing residents in this section of Seaton. Many of these residents are living in Housing Trust properties and others own their own homes. Together, they are fed up with what is happening to their suburb.

It is not just in Seaton. I am contacted by many people living in sections of Semaphore Park and Grange who are at their wits' end because of this sort of behaviour. The feedback from many constituents has been clear: ice use and ice dealing is on the rise, and so is crime in the local community. I have heard some heartbreaking stories of constituents whose children are suffering from addiction, and who need assistance in coping with the stresses of their child's drug addiction and the lack of available rehabilitation options to ease this burden.

I have spoken with constituents who want to move out of their home to avoid the disturbances caused by people affected by this insidious drug. Last week, chair of the Law Society’s Criminal Law Committee, Craig Caldicott, said in The Advertiser:

…the link between ice and violent crime was different to that of other drugs such as heroin, cocaine and ecstasy.

Twenty years ago people were using heroin and they would do anything to get their fix…But heroin was and is expensive, so they would rob banks or commit armed robberies in order to be able to afford it.

In 2019, we're hearing it's actually cheaper to buy ice than it is to buy alcohol, with a purity ranging from at least 50 per cent up to 70 and 80 per cent.

These days people aren’t offending to be able to buy ice—they're offending because they've consumed ice, and that offending is violent.

I have held several community forums with residents to hear their concerns about this sort of behaviour. A huge number of residents come to these forums, and the stories they have shared about the disturbances, the violence, the drug dealing, the arson, the house breaking, the vandalism and the terror they live through, have to be heard to understand the impact this is having on their lives.

To their credit, SA Police and staff from Housing SA have attended these forums to hear about the extent of the problem. Neighbourhood Watch leaders and the Housing Trust Tenants Association have also come along to represent their communities. Police have advised residents that they need them to report suspicious or criminal activity as soon as they see it to enable SAPOL to attend and take action.

Over the past three years, I have been assured that patrols have been stepped up and that a more visible police presence has been placed in the community to try to deter this behaviour. Housing SA staff also encourage residents to report to them any criminal or disturbing behaviour so they can try to intervene in these situations. Many residents have cooperated with police and Housing SA to provide such intelligence; however, many residents feel that despite reporting this behaviour and criminal activity, it continues.

There is now a sense of helplessness amongst many. My office raises issues on behalf of constituents in relation to antisocial behaviour, including alleged drug use and manufacturing at Housing SA properties in this area, and has done so on many occasions. I understand that the government has sought to toughen the approach of the Housing Trust with the new 'three strikes' policy to try to eradicate this behaviour. This is not the first minister to promise tougher action; however, converting a minister's policy to on-the-ground action is not guaranteed.

I wholeheartedly support a tougher stance on people perpetrating this criminal behaviour, but it has to be carried out by the officers on the ground. Residents are being forced to endure the worst type of the behaviour in communities they have lived in for 20, 30 or even 40 years. Home owners and Housing Trust tenants alike are proud of their streets and suburbs. It causes them tremendous distress to see what is happening to their community. We need to see our parliament and government act in ways to alleviate this suffering in our communities.

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