Ivan Dean, Speeches Index

Wednesday 11 July 2007

SENTENCING AMENDMENT BILL 2007

Mr DEAN ( Windermere ) - Mr President, I will make just a short contribution, as most areas have been covered. Very clearly, our current methods have not worked and there is a need to go down a path to bring in some other sentencing options and options to rehabilitate these people who, in many respects, are screaming out for assistance and help, and most of them fit into that category. Some, of course, do not, but the majority want assistance and support. Looking at other means of punishment and rehabilitation is very important.

I did have the figures at one time, but I think almost three-quarters of crime committed now has some connection to drugs and drug use, Mr President, and you are probably aware of that yourself. If people are not under the influence of drugs at the time, they are committing crime for the purposes of ensuring that they can get drugs or can purchase drugs, or they are involved in the sale and the distribution of drugs. Drugs are involved in some way or another, so it would be a wonderful position if we could now get rid of drugs from society, because we would also clean up a huge amount of crime being committed. It is hopeful that a program like this just might help us at least reduce crime committed through the use of drugs and where drugs are involved.

Drugs involve everybody. Drugs are not identified with a certain part of the community, they involve everybody from the very poor to the very rich, from the intelligent to the unintelligent, from people with no schooling to people with university education backgrounds. Drugs impact on anybody and everybody and therefore it is a very difficult area we are currently working in. I look forward to seeing whether this program will work.

In fact, some programs will work. I do not know if the members around this room have read the Bronwyn Healey autobiography; it is an interesting book. She was a child from a very affluent family in Sydney, was introduced to drugs at a very young age when she was going through school, and from there she became dependent on drugs, went onto heroin and other higher levels of drugs. From there, she went into criminal activity and from there, prostitution. She got support from her family and some programs that were in place that people were able to introduce her to, and as a result of that she turned her life completely around and she now, I think, does a lot of consultancy work and also in the area of presentations, and so on, and has written a book.

So some programs will work, they do work, and I am hoping that this program will work. But I just reiterate what some of the other members have said, and that is for it to be successful it must be adequately funded and staffed. We must make sure that the right people are there and that the right numbers of people are there. I also add - and I think the member for Nelson is going to refer to it - it cannot be at the expense of other very good programs that we currently have in place, Mr President. It should stand alone and it needs to be funded accordingly. I will certainly support the bill.

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