Teresa Gambaro (Brisbane, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

It is a great pleasure to finally get to speak to this bill. I rise to speak in support of the Crimes Legislation Amendment (Psychoactive Substances and Other Measures) Bill 2014. This bill addresses the important issue of how to stem the increasing availability and negative effects of psychoactive substances and also substances which mimic the effect of these illicit drugs but are not categorised as illicit drugs under current law. This is an area of real concern to me at a number of levels. I represent an electorate of more than 145,000 people, around 16 per cent of whom are aged between 15 and 24. This is the most highly represented age group for drug use. Parents, including me, are united in our care and in our sense of responsibility for not only our young ones but a whole generation of youth.

I am also aware of my responsibility, as part of the federal government, to support a legislative framework that will reduce the likelihood of our young people falling victim to pedlars of dangerous substances. The legislation before us today is in response to disturbing evidence of a more modern drug culture that involves addictive and dangerous substances similar in potentially negative impacts to those already listed as illegal; but in this case their pedlars are free to operate in what has been an ominous environment of legal loopholes. The nature of these new psychoactive drugs, which are also referred to as synthetic drugs, is that they can be advertised as legal. This leads to the false perception that they are safe. They are not safe. They are unregulated, they are untested and, in the case of an overdose, they are difficult to identify or treat effectively.

We have sadly seen a number of deaths in Australia resulting from cardiac complications, seizures, brain injury or misadventure following the unregulated use of psychoactive drugs. Some of these very same substances can be sold in a pharmacy or as a health tonic. But there is also an increase in online sales and imports, which has been of great concern. Europol is currently monitoring 280 new psychoactive substances, 73 of which were added to the list in 2012 alone. This indicates that there is something of an epidemic. Some of the best available data that we have on the dangerous impacts of these drugs comes from the UK, where six deaths from psychoactive drugs were recorded in 2003. That figure jumped to 25 in 2008 and then to 52 in 2013. It does not take a mathematician to see that there is a dangerously increasing trend at play here.

I find these statistics disturbing, but I am encouraged that we now have open to us a window of opportunity to stop the spread of psychoactive drugs and to stop the usage that is part of a youth culture and a threat to our social fabric. State governments in Australia have tried to take action to ban some psychoactive substances, because evidence of their use and harm has become available, but with the way our current legislation is designed manufacturers can simply alter the composition of account to avoid legal ramifications. In this case, manufacturers have taken advantage of a legal loophole and not made the drug safer.

This is an emerging and disturbing area of activity that clearly requires government intervention. The Abbott government recognises its responsibilities to close any and all loopholes in the interest of community safety, which in this case relates to the banning of the importation of all psychoactive substances, regardless of their composition, unless they have a legitimate use.

The detail of this legislative amendment is designed to prosecute criminals who would make a quick buck at the expense of others and with no regard for their wellbeing. The offence of the importation of psychoactive drugs will therefore be enacted under the Criminal Code. Proposed amendments to the Customs Act will also allow the Australian Federal Police and Customs officers to intercept importation of these drugs, seize them and destroy them before they even reach the market and before they can place users at risk. I would like to emphasise that anyone found to be a legitimate user of these substances will be able to put forward their case under the new amendments. Legitimate use could include medicines and industrial, agriculture and veterinary chemicals. They will be permitted. I fully commend these legislative amendments, which will stop the so-called legal use of psychoactive substances, for the valuable contribution they will make to community safety outcomes and to the wellbeing of our youth.

There is a second part to this bill that responds to an election commitment made by the coalition, when we were in opposition, to implement tougher penalties for gun related crimes. Again, the proposed amendments are about closing legal loopholes and staying one step ahead of the small but dangerous criminal element that would seek to disrupt the wellbeing of Australians. It is apt that we consider these amendments in the same bill, given that both will serve to strengthen community safety in Australia.

In 2012, firearms were identified as being the weapon of choice in 25 per cent of homicides in Australia. Moreover, criminals are able to evade firearms trafficking offences and penalties by breaking down firearms and trading parts. There are several loopholes, and I have no doubt that we are all sick and tired of seeing the firearm related offences that happen all too frequently all over our communities being reported on the news. Regrettably these news reports seem to be happening more and more each day. Under these new measures, there will be a mandatory minimum sentence of five years imprisonment for offenders charged with trafficking firearms or firearm parts, which provides a clear deterrent. Providing there is clear intent, it will no longer be possible to simply break a firearm down into its components to sidestep the law. The measures being proposed in this bill will disrupt organised criminal groups and gangs with a culture of violence in Australia, as well as dealing with lone-wolf attacks.

Coordination between federal and state levels of government is essential if we are to strengthen the security fabric of our nation. I commend the work that has already been done in this area and emphasise the necessity of these legislative amendments to underpin the work of our law enforcement agencies at all levels of government. Criminals, gangs and firearm traffickers do operate across our borders. They do not respect jurisdictional boundaries. As such, this is an issue that crosses state borders and jurisdictions and which should quite properly concern all of us here today. National antigang strike teams have been established across Australia, including in my home state of Queensland, to work with state police to crack down on firearms trafficking as well as money laundering and extortion. An Australian Gangs Intelligence Coordination Centre, based in the Australian Crime Commission, is also collecting data and mobilising strike teams to target cross-border operations. I further commend the fact that $88 million has been committed to customs and border protection to increase cargo screening to stop drugs and firearms before they reach our streets, when it is already too late.

I will briefly address the more administrative elements of the Crimes Legislation Amendment (Psychoactive Substances and Other Measures) Bill before concluding my speech in support of the amendments. The bill will amend the International Transfer of Prisoners Act 1997, or ITP Act, which governs Australia's international transfer of prisoners scheme to promote the successful rehabilitation and reintegration into society of a prisoner, while preserving the sentence imposed by the sentencing country as far as possible. The proposed changes are designed to clarify and streamline the ITP process and reduce unnecessary red tape associated with applications. Key proposals include removing the requirement for the Attorney-General to make a final decision where a transfer application is clearly unviable and does not meet all requirements; imposing a one-year time limit on re-applications; clarifying application procedures and prisoner eligibility criteria; and clarifying the conditions under which the Attorney-General's consent is required—for example, this would be a discretionary rather than mandatory requirement in the event that variations were made to the terms of a transfer.

Of utmost consideration with regard to these changes is Australia's reputation as an upstanding international citizen and bastion of human rights—national characteristics that are non-negotiable. In fact, through clarification, it is possible for prisoners and their families to have the security of knowing where they stand legally, while keeping our legal system free from excessive bureaucracy that is socially and economically costly.

Finally, while slavery is not an issue that many of us would be personally familiar with, it does occur elsewhere in the world. It is an insidious crime and one which we must guard against occurring on Australian soil in any form. This bill provides for clarification that slavery offences have universal jurisdiction, eliminating any uncertainty for law enforcement agencies responsible for investigating and prosecuting slavery offences in Australia or by Australians.

Deputy Speaker, the measures brought before you today and presented in the Crimes Legislation Amendment (Psychoactive Substances and Other Measures) Bill are about creating the kind of Australia you and I and the majority of law-abiding Australians want to live in. We want a country that is secure in all facets of life. We want our young people to grow up secure in the understanding and knowledge that there is a difference between what you can buy freely and an illicit and dangerous drug—they are not one and the same. We want to be able to walk our streets, secure in the knowledge that, while firearms may exist, we do not live in a community where it is easy or even remotely acceptable to carry weapons that can at a single movement of the trigger cause serious bodily harm or death. We are fortunate not to have a gun culture in this country. It is something that sets us apart from other parts of the world and something that we must never take for granted or lose through any complacency. We want to live in a community where bikie gangs and criminal groups know they will experience the full force of the law should they disrespect it. We want the next generation of Australians to experience and know that the government will go to great lengths to ensure their safety, wellbeing and quality of life.

In conclusion, I am pleased to say that the vast majority of Australian citizens are law abiding. Nevertheless, if the government is negligent in its constitutional responsibility to protect its citizens, those who are not law abiding are able to do us great harm. The Abbott government has been clear on where it stands on security and community safety issues. Needless to say, this will not be the scenario in play on our watch. I fully support this bill in the confidence that it will close legal loopholes and takes us another leap forward in making Australia one of the safest countries in the world, with the quality of life we should all expect. I commend the bill to the House.

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