Mr FILING —I wish to raise a matter of great concern in recent times, and that is the influx of the drug Ecstasy into Australia from overseas. Recently I had the opportunity to visit the National Criminal Intelligence Service in the UK and Interpol in Lyons, France. I was interested to learn of the enormous expansion in the manufacture and trafficking of the drug Ecstasy, particularly in the United Kingdom and spreading on the European mainland. There are some strong links between the UK and Australia in terms of visitors and transactions. It is a matter of grave concern that we are seeing now some substantial importations, and this is only what we are able to detect from the cursory customs service that we have at the moment.

We are seeing now a serious influx of Ecstasy into Australia manufactured in the United Kingdom, in Holland or elsewhere. All I can do, with the Attorney-General (Mr Williams) present in the chamber, is to ask the government to seriously reconsider some of the cuts it has made in relation to the fight against drug trafficking on the part of the Australian Federal Police and in the case of the Customs Service. The Customs Service is Australia's first barrier in the fight against drug trafficking. Western Australia, it is estimated, has up to $1 billion of illicit drugs coming in over its frontier each year. That is a matter of grave concern, not only to Western Australians but to all Australians. I can only urge the government to seriously rethink its customs strategy.

Mr SPEAKER —Order! It being 9.45 a.m., in accordance with the resolution agreed to on 9 October 1996 the time for members' statements has concluded.