Fiona Scott (Lindsay, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Tonight, I rise to bring a troubling issue before the House, one that is destroying so many lives and families right across our region, right across our nation and in my electorate of Lindsay. Western Sydney is on the brink of an ice epidemic. In fact, according to the Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research on the amphetamine intake, Penrith is now listed as one of the fastest-growing regions. Needless to say, this drug is linked to a growing number of crimes in the region. The ABS reported that amphetamine related crimes were up 16.1 per cent across New South Wales, but the increase for Penrith was 24.2 per cent annually.

Recently, one of our local newspapers went as far as labelling Saint Marys a hotspot, having reported 48 ice related crime incidents in the past 12 months. Hospitals are also seeing the impact of this deadly drug. Dr Ni Fung, a drug specialist at the Nepean private specialist centre and the drug health director at the Western Sydney Local Health District, said: 'This data suggests increases are phenomenal, with ice administrations up sevenfold in just the past five years.' Speaking with a senior policeman at the Penrith local area command drug unit, I was told: 'It's cheap, it's nasty, it's handy and it's highly addictive. It's become one of those "in" drugs because it's relatively cheap and easy to make and easy to get.'

This drug does not discriminate either. We are seeing people from all types of religious backgrounds and family structures take up the drug. For instance, Trent Elliott from St Marys, a local bricklayer who had earned $1,500 per week from his trade, spent it on Friday nights on ice. That saw him shot, stabbed, bashed—all as a result of using the deadly drug. It ruined his teeth, his health, his job and his relationships. Another case was that of a Penrith resident, Carla, who started using ice at just 16. She told the Sydney Morning Herald:

I was with friends the first time. My mum left her bank card with me so I … withdrew money. We had just planned on drinking. This guy with a car came around. He was a dealer. My mate was getting …ice… so I gave him some money … too. That was it.

Even though the come downs were awful, I wanted it more and more. And I kept committing crime so I could get it.

…   …   …

I ended up in lock up ... That's when I decided I had to try and get my life back on track.

It is distressing this drug is so popular, because you never know if you are going to be the one that is going to be so highly addicted. You will never know if you are the one that loses a decade of your life or, even worse, you never know if you are going to be the one that ends up dead. This is a drug that has dire consequences.

We have all seen the horrific images of people's physicality transformed by this drug. But that is nothing compared to what happens to the insides. It has nothing to do with what happens to the rest of your body, or the destruction to your families—the destruction to our whole community. Ice really is one of the most addictive substances ever created. It is often manufactured in backyards. You never know what you are going to get. You never know how many times it has been cut—let alone what it has been cut with. Playing with drugs is playing Russian roulette with your life.

What I am proposing to do as a local member—because I am not going to stand here with my community being called a hot spot—is on Tuesday, 14 April I and all of my community organisations and concerned residents will be holding a drug forum in Penrith to discuss the issues of ice in our local community, and how together we can find a solution and claim our community back for ourselves.