Mr HUNT (10:32 AM) —I am delighted to rise to speak in support of the Australian Crime Commission Amendment Bill 2003. This bill is ultimately about helping the Australian Crime Commission in its work to combat organised crime and the outcome of organised crime—that is, the spread and scourge of drugs throughout Australia. Overnight, we saw the death of another member of Melbourne's underworld. By some accounts, that killing represents the 23rd recent killing of an underworld figure in Melbourne. It shows that there is a significant organised crime network in one city in Australia. This network is at war with itself. It is real, established and involved in activities such as drugs, prostitution, the illegal importation of substances throughout Australia and standover activities. It is also having a deleterious, destructive and cancerous effect on our society.

In focusing on the Australian Crime Commission Amendment Bill 2003, let us not forget for a moment that it is about the good of society. It is about dealing with these things that strike at the very notion of everything that we believe in and which reach into and rip apart lives of ordinary citizens. That is what the Australian Crime Commission is about. It is about breaking down organised crime in Australia. Organised crime, in turn, is about widespread drug use, preying upon those who are most vulnerable—and in addition to that widespread drug use it is about other associated activities, be they organised prostitution, illegal import and export, standover tactics or any of the other elements which are associated with organised crime. The effect on society is to break down certainty for people in their own homes and to break down the capacity of businesses to go about their affairs without feeling threatened or intimidated. That is why this bill is important.

One thing we have seen is a significant decrease in the quantity of heroin used over the last five years in Australia. That comes from the work of the National Crime Authority and its successor, the Australian Crime Commission, and the Australian Federal Police and the respective state jurisdictions. There has been an extraordinary decrease in the use and level of heroin and related opiates in our society over the last five to six years. That is a breakthrough, but it is still a problem so you can never ever be complacent. That is the heart and soul of what this bill is about and it is what the Australian Crime Commission focuses on.

Very briefly, I support this bill because it has a simple proposition: it helps the Australian Crime Commission to establish itself in its transition as the successor to the National Crime Authority. The Australian Crime Commission was established on 1 January 2003. It was the culmination of a decade long process to bring together a series of bodies. In April 1992, the Commonwealth, states and territories agreed to replace the National Crime Authority with a new body with a strong focus on national criminal intelligence needs. The agreement recognised that there is a level of serious and organised crime in Australia, that it cuts across jurisdictional boundaries and that it needs to be addressed at a national level. That is where the Australian Crime Commission fits in, so it was established on 1 January 2003. As a consequence of its establishment, there are some minor amendments.

But what is the Australian Crime Commission? It is a body which was established as the successor to the National Crime Authority, the Australian Bureau of Criminal Intelligence and the Office of Strategic Crime Assessments with a vision of reducing the incidence and impact of serious and organised criminal activity. That is a clear and simple vision. Its specific mission flowing from that vision is to enhance Australian law enforcement's capacity to counter serious and organised criminal activity by: (1), providing quality intelligence and investigative services; (2), responding effectively to the needs of the relevant police and jurisdictional bodies throughout Australia; and, (3), working with those agencies.

The Australian Crime Commission has six core functions: firstly, to collect and disseminate criminal information and intelligence; secondly, to provide the ACC's board with strategic criminal assessments based on that intelligence; thirdly, to advise the board on criminal intelligence priorities; fourthly, to undertake criminal intelligence operations—so to get out there and do the work; fifthly, to investigate matters relating to federally relevant criminal activity; and, finally, to report to the board on the outcomes of intelligence operations and investigations. So those elements—intelligence collection, operations, and monitoring and review—constitute the essence of what the Australian Crime Commission is about. In that context, this bill helps facilitate the transition from its forerunners.

I want to conclude with a reference to local policing and community policing concerns within my own electorate. Whilst we are fortunate not to have a major organised crime problem in the electorate of Flinders, we are not free of it—not for one moment do I think that. In the large and growing town of Somerville, the residents, which include young families and retirees, are seriously concerned that there is no police station. The area has a consistent low-level problem with criminal activities and with law and order, particularly on the streets late in the evening and on the weekends—

Mr Slipper —Why won't the Victorian government put in a police station?

Mr HUNT —They should be putting in a police station. I thank the parliamentary secretary for his remarks. We have made it a specific policy to fight for and deliver a police station for Somerville. We made it a specific policy to fight for and deliver a secondary college for Somerville, against the wishes of the state government. Now, having won that battle, the next battle is to deliver a police station for the people of Somerville.

Mr Slipper —You sound like an effective local representative.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER (Hon. B.C. Scott)—Order! The parliamentary secretary will refrain from interjecting.

Mr HUNT —I put on the record that goal of a critical need for local policing. It is complementary to the concept of national policing and national investigation contained within this bill. I commend the National Crime Authority on its work while it was in existence and I commend the work of the Australian Crime Commission, as its successor and the body that now brings together Australian criminal investigation activities in relation to organised crime. I push forcefully for the need for a police station on the ground in Somerville, providing practical policing. I commend this bill to the House, and I urge its speedy passage.