❓ Mr Millman asks about methamphetamine use in WA based on wastewater testing and government efforts to reduce it. The Minister responds with positive trends, highlighting reductions in methamphetamine levels and government initiatives.
AnsweredQoN 724Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
METHAMPHETAMINE
724. Mr S.A. MILLMAN to the Minister for Police:
I refer to the McGowan Labor
government's commitment to tackling the scourge of methamphetamine
across Western Australia and driving down the use of this drug.
(1) Can the
minister outline to the house what the latest wastewater testing results by the
Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission show about the use of
methamphetamine in WA?
(2) Can the
minister advise the house how the government is continuing to drive down the
use of meth in this state?
724. Mr S.A. MILLMAN to the Minister for Police:
I refer to the McGowan Labor
government's commitment to tackling the scourge of methamphetamine
across Western Australia and driving down the use of this drug.
(1) Can the
minister outline to the house what the latest wastewater testing results by the
Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission show about the use of
methamphetamine in WA?
(2) Can the
minister advise the house how the government is continuing to drive down the
use of meth in this state?
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(2) I
thank the member for Mount Lawley for the question and for his commitment to
dealing with the meth scourge and driving down crime in his Mount Lawley
electorate and throughout Western Australia. The Australian Criminal
Intelligence Commission today released some wastewater reports for Australia.
For years now it has been testing some 47 sites across Australia, following the
amount of methamphetamine and other drugs in wastewater, providing those
results to the various jurisdictions and making them public. Yes, member for
Mount Lawley, I can confirm that, for the second time now, we have seen a decrease
in the amount of methamphetamine in both the metropolitan and regional
wastewater sites in Western Australia. I would like to do better. I would like
to see better results, particularly in regional Western Australia, where there
has been an 11 per cent reduction. It is trending in the right direction and I think
that is a very positive thing. In the metropolitan area, since an all-time high
in October 2016, we have now seen a 60 per cent reduction from that level. That
is a massive decrease compared with then, after testing the same sites in
metropolitan Perth. We have lost our title now as the methamphetamine capital
of Australia. In fact, we lost the title when the last set of results came out.
This is a dramatic difference. There is no room for complacency. We realise
that, of course, results can go up and down, but this is a phenomenal result of
a 60 per cent reduction.
I
note that our government, unlike the former government, has made dealing with
the level of methamphetamine use in our community a priority. Ahead of the
election, we made a commitment to a methamphetamine action plan. As part of
that, about $80 million has been allocated to the Western Australia Police
Force to engage 100 additional police officers and 20 other support staff to
deal with it. We have also equipped the WA Police Force with additional laws.
People will recall that the first piece of legislation introduced after the
election created life sentences for those who deal in methamphetamine. We have
also put in place a range of other equipment and devices, including the meth
truck that I have spoken about before in this place, TruNarc handheld narcotic
identification devices, mobile data downloading devices, new software and much
more, to support the Western Australia Police Force and give it unprecedented
resources to fight the scourge of meth. Last year, the Western Australia Police
Force seized a record 1.56 tonnes of methamphetamine. That was huge. That
certainly had an impact within the community of Western Australia. Anecdotally,
after big seizures of methamphetamine, we hear that there are fewer
presentations at emergency departments. We also look at the impact it has on
crime trends. We know that methamphetamine is a driver of crime. �That is why
we are watching those wastewater results very closely. That is why we have
given our Western Australia Police Force the additional resources it needs to
interrupt the supply of methamphetamine coming into our state.
thank the member for Mount Lawley for the question and for his commitment to
dealing with the meth scourge and driving down crime in his Mount Lawley
electorate and throughout Western Australia. The Australian Criminal
Intelligence Commission today released some wastewater reports for Australia.
For years now it has been testing some 47 sites across Australia, following the
amount of methamphetamine and other drugs in wastewater, providing those
results to the various jurisdictions and making them public. Yes, member for
Mount Lawley, I can confirm that, for the second time now, we have seen a decrease
in the amount of methamphetamine in both the metropolitan and regional
wastewater sites in Western Australia. I would like to do better. I would like
to see better results, particularly in regional Western Australia, where there
has been an 11 per cent reduction. It is trending in the right direction and I think
that is a very positive thing. In the metropolitan area, since an all-time high
in October 2016, we have now seen a 60 per cent reduction from that level. That
is a massive decrease compared with then, after testing the same sites in
metropolitan Perth. We have lost our title now as the methamphetamine capital
of Australia. In fact, we lost the title when the last set of results came out.
This is a dramatic difference. There is no room for complacency. We realise
that, of course, results can go up and down, but this is a phenomenal result of
a 60 per cent reduction.
I
note that our government, unlike the former government, has made dealing with
the level of methamphetamine use in our community a priority. Ahead of the
election, we made a commitment to a methamphetamine action plan. As part of
that, about $80 million has been allocated to the Western Australia Police
Force to engage 100 additional police officers and 20 other support staff to
deal with it. We have also equipped the WA Police Force with additional laws.
People will recall that the first piece of legislation introduced after the
election created life sentences for those who deal in methamphetamine. We have
also put in place a range of other equipment and devices, including the meth
truck that I have spoken about before in this place, TruNarc handheld narcotic
identification devices, mobile data downloading devices, new software and much
more, to support the Western Australia Police Force and give it unprecedented
resources to fight the scourge of meth. Last year, the Western Australia Police
Force seized a record 1.56 tonnes of methamphetamine. That was huge. That
certainly had an impact within the community of Western Australia. Anecdotally,
after big seizures of methamphetamine, we hear that there are fewer
presentations at emergency departments. We also look at the impact it has on
crime trends. We know that methamphetamine is a driver of crime. �That is why
we are watching those wastewater results very closely. That is why we have
given our Western Australia Police Force the additional resources it needs to
interrupt the supply of methamphetamine coming into our state.
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