Cory Bernardi (SA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Last year I raised an important issue in adjournment. It was an issue that has gone on to cause some discussion in the elite sporting arena in this country, particularly where Australian Rules football is concerned. The issue I am referring to is drugs in sport, particularly illicit drugs and the need for a tougher and more uniform approach towards the penalty and rehabilitation regime.

It should be the common goal of sporting administrators in this country to stamp out the dangerous use of drugs in sport and to ensure a clean playing field. Illicit drugs and all that they entail are diametrically opposed to the virtues and benefits of participating in sport whether at a local club level or at an elite national level. Taking illegal drugs is inconsistent with living a healthy lifestyle. With the explosion of mental health issues in our community, which many link and directly attribute to smoking marijuana and the ice epidemic, it is fast becoming clear that our societal role models need to step up and be an example to our young people. Indeed, the AFL’s illicit drug policy explicitly states that illegal drugs are dangerous and that the players have the opportunity to set an example to the wider community by asserting that they do not condone or use any illicit substances.

And this is right. It is the right policy for the AFL to have adopted. The fact is that illicit drugs are bad for you, end of story, and there have to be consequences for those who indulge in them—illegally, I might add—and are caught. This applies in the general community and is widely accepted. Therefore consequences for elite athletes taking illegal drugs also need to be consistent with community standards and expectations. People who aspire to represent our country, their state or their club at the highest levels of their sport should be prepared to take this issue seriously. Our taxpayers, through the federal government, have invested many hundreds of millions of dollars over many years in our elite athletes. We invest in their training; we invest in their competition; we invest in their equipment. We are backing Australia’s sporting ability. Is it too much for us to ask for them not to use illicit drugs not just on match day but at any time?

If that request is too onerous then perhaps we should stop investing in those sports that are not prepared to encourage a drug-free lifestyle. Condoning any level of drug taking by athletes sets a bad example in our community. Australia’s elite athletes, regardless of their chosen sport, are in a position of profound influence, often being looked up to and admired by children and adults alike. While it sounds simplistic to say, it is the case that drug taking by these people sets a bad example, particularly to children. Simply, illegal drugs and sport do not go together. And as a parent I feel confident in saying that any sporting code which takes a soft line towards drugs of any sort would find most parents discouraging their children from participating in that particular sport.

The time is now right for a bold new step to enhance Australia’s reputation as the cleanest sporting nation in the world. The Australia government is standing shoulder to shoulder with every parent who wants their child, their child’s environment and their child’s sport to be drug free. I believe the government should encourage and support each and every sport to take the lead in the war on illicit drug use by athletes.

That is why I believe every sporting organisation in receipt of federal government funding for the operation of their sport should be prepared to adopt an out-of-competition illegal drug testing policy for their elite athletes. It is not too much to ask sports that are in receipt of, in some cases, millions of dollars of taxpayers’ money and those athletes who seek to represent our great nation and do battle on the sporting arena to do so in a clean, drug-free environment. In fact we demand it of them in competition. So why should it be okay to pop pills, or snort or smoke illegal drugs on the other days of the week?

Swimming Australia has indicated that they are prepared to consider just this step. And I say to Swimming Australia tonight: don’t consider it; just do it. The Australian swimming team has been inspirational to millions of Australians with their vitality, their camaraderie, their discipline and their representation of our nation. They have made all Australians proud, and by taking this bold step and leading the war on drugs our nation’s parents will be prouder still for their children to dream of representing their country.

But swimming should not have to do this alone. Let me make it clear: I believe the federal government should fully fund the costs associated with implementing a strengthened illegal drug testing regime. The government should stand strong with our sporting bodies and shoulder the burden of the additional costs associated with implementing the strongest drug testing regime anywhere in the world. But more than that, the other sports that receive many millions of dollars in taxpayer funds should be expected to adhere to the same standards. If the professional sports whose athletes are highly paid are not prepared to pick up the same testing regime, not only should the federal government withhold any financial support but I know that eventually the parents of Australia will register and render their judgement.

However, an enhanced testing process is just one piece of the puzzle. It needs to be backed up with penalties consistent with community standards, and the current penalties simply are not. Where out-of-competition illegal drug testing is adopted the penalties are simply substandard. Take the AFL, for example. With nearly seven million spectators annually and four million television viewers every week it is by far the biggest and most popular sporting competition in Australia, and they do have one of the most stringent drug-testing regimes in Australia. But its penalty system is simply a joke. The AFL has been roundly criticised for its three-strike policy, which is completely out of step with the legislative and policy framework under which illegal drugs are considered in this country. The AFL agrees that illegal drugs are dangerous and yet its recent actions demonstrate that it knows its three-strike policy is absolutely pathetic. How else can we explain the decision to make Ben Cousins subject to a zero-tolerance policy should he play again for the West Coast Eagles? Now he can only take the field in the knowledge that his first positive test will mean a suspension. According to the AFL, Ben Cousins is special, but it seems to me that the AFL, by identifying Ben Cousins as special, is admitting failure of its three-strike penalty system.

It is now time for the AFL and other major sporting organisations to back their rhetoric with action. We need to encourage sporting codes across Australia to adopt and enforce a zero-tolerance policy towards the use of illicit drugs. There must be definite consequences for athletes engaging in illegal drug use. As the Minister for the Arts and Sport, Senator Brandis, recently stated, they do not necessarily have to be career-ending consequences, but the few elite athletes who do indulge in illicit drugs need to be held accountable for their actions. Whilst the withholding of funds or even the offer of additional funds or incentives could not force professional sports to adopt a zero-tolerance policy, Mr Glenn Tasker from Swimming Australia speaks for parents and sporting administrators across this country when he says:

We send very, very clear and strong messages to our athletes about performance-enhancing substances. Why not send the same message about illegal substances?