Between Monday 19 August and Friday 23 August 2024 police across Australia seized illicit drugs with estimated street value of $93 million - $14 million of which was seized in NSW

 

From time to time there are media articles that catch the eye because there is mention of north-east New South Wales and information about drug activity in the region which in 2024 revealed that:

• In March 2024 during a search of a Kingscliff property in northern NSW police and Australian Border Force officers reportedly found and dismantled a large drug lab and seized over 1,000 litres of precursors for MDMA and methamphetamine.

• On Saturday, 20 July, 2024, officers from Tweed/Byron Police District stopped a vehicle in Brunswick Heads for the purpose of a random breath test. He was arrested after police searched the vehicle and allegedly located about 38 grams of MDMA, 91 grams of ketamine, 55 grams of cocaine, five grams of cannabis resin, five grams of LSD, 40 grams of cannabis leaf and 32 prescription pills - as well as a small quantity of cannabis leaf, 113 grams of cocaine, 33 grams of MDMA powder, $13,500 in cash, a sling shot, a number of prescription pills and two mobile telephones at his residence.

• Then on Wednesday, 31 July 2024 police from the Northern Rivers Region Enforcement Squad, assisted by the Tactical Operations Unit, stopped a vehicle at a service station in Chinderah. Three people in the vehicle – a 37-year-old woman, and two men aged 28 and 51 – were arrested at the scene as part of a drug investigation. 

• And again on Thursday, 1 August 2024 six people are behind bars after a major drug bust in the Northern Rivers. Arrests occurred at Chinderah, Tweed and Evans Heads. Three search warrants simultaneously in Evans Head and Tweed Heads uncovering seven pistols, one shotgun, one rifle, nine gel blasters, three electronic stun devices, knuckle dusters, flick knives, batons, handcuffs, cocaine, more than a litre of GBL, steroids, almost 1.5kg of methamphetamine, fireworks, and almost $40,000 in cash.

It seems that some areas of the Northern Rivers region are definitely part of a much wider problem which again came to public notice with this report.

NSW Police News, 27 August 2024:

Officers from across the NSW Police Force have seized over $14 million worth of prohibited drugs across the state, disrupting significant sources of large-scale drug supply and organised crime activity as part of Operation Vitreus national week of action.

Operation Vitreus is a joint initiative between all Australian state and territory police agencies, the Australian Federal Police, Australian Border Force, AUSTRAC, Department of Home Affairs, the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission and New Zealand Police, which ran between Monday 19 August 2024 and Friday 23 August 2024.

During the operation, 1611 people were arrested, resulting in 2962 charges and the seizure of over 7kg of heroine, 107kg of methylamphetamine, 42kg of cocaine, 12kg of MDMA, 2.5kg of ketamine, 2512 cannabis plants and 247kg of cannabis, as well as 71 firearms and over $2.2 million in cash.

The estimated combined street value of all drugs seized during the operation is $93 million. [my yellow highlighting]

The NSW Police operation – led by State Crime Command’s Organised Crime Squad – saw over 311 arrests, resulting in 456 charges, and the seizure of over 1.4kg of heroine, 18.6kg of methylamphetamine, 3.6kg of cocaine, 287g of MDMA, 132 Cannabis plants and 4.8kg of cannabis and 23 firearms.

The estimated combined street value of all drugs seized in NSW is over $14 million....... [my yellow highlighting]

Police would also like to remind the public about the health issues of these drugs targeted during Operation Vitreus.

General health risks/harms associated with illicit drugs

Illicit drug use carries inherent risks and taking even a known substance can result in unintended harm.

The consumption of alcohol and other drugs is a major cause of preventable disease and illness in Australia.

The harms from drug use impact – directly and indirectly – on all Australian communities, families and individuals. Impacts range across the spectrum of health, social and economic harms. Health harms include injuries, chronic conditions and diseases, mental health problems, road trauma, and overdose.

Methamphetamine

The health harms associated with the use of methamphetamine and other stimulants include mental illness, cognitive impairment, cardiovascular problems and overdose.

People who inject methamphetamine and share needles are at increased risk of contracting hepatitis C, hepatitis B, HIV/AIDS as well as infection and vein damage.

Methamphetamine production often relies on unknown and/or harmful ingredients. This can further increase the health risks associated with consumption.

GHB (gamma hydroxybutyrate)

Consumption of GHB can cause drowsiness, vomiting, mood swings and dependence. GHB use carries a high risk of unconsciousness, respiratory collapse and overdose because there is very little difference between the amount that it is typically consumed and the amount that will cause overdose.

The risk of GHB overdose increases when its use is combined with other drugs such as alcohol, benzodiazepines and opioids.

Synthetic opioids including fentanyl and nitazenes

The negative health consequences of opioids, including synthetic opioids includes dependence, infectious disease transmission (primarily through risky injecting practice) and death from overdose.

Synthetic opioids can be extremely potent which increases the risk of health harms including overdose.

People who use other drugs such as heroin and cocaine may inadvertently consume synthetic opioids such as fentanyl and nitazenes when it is used as an adulterant. Synthetic opioids have also be found in counterfeit pharmaceutical drugs. Inherently this kind of exposure increases the risk of overdose.

The Take Home Naloxone (THN) Program makes naloxone, a medicine that temporarily reverse the effects of opioids (including synthetic opioids), available for free, without the need for a prescription, to people who may experience, or witness an opioid overdose. Further details at: https://www.health.gov.au/our-work/take-home-naloxone-program

Alcohol and drug treatment hotline

The National Alcohol and Other Drug hotline provides free and confidential advice about alcohol and other drugs treatment services on 1800 250 015. Further information on treatment and supports is available from: https://www.health.gov.au/our-work/drug-help/how-to-find-help

Overdose

> Drugs are unpredictable and they can affect people in different ways.

> Call 000 for an ambulance immediately if there is even the slightest risk that someone is having an unusual reaction to a drug.

> Emergency services will only notify police if there is a risk to their own personal safety or if someone dies.

BUSHFIRE STATE OF PLAY IN NORTHERN RIVERS REGION SPRING-SUMMER 2023 : by 1am on Wednesday 18 October 15 fires were active & all were at "Advice" level

 

The NSW Rural Fire Service interactive mapping “Fires Near Me” showed 15 bushfire incidents in the Northern Rivers region at 1:16am this morning, Wednesday 18 October 2023.

These were spread across the local government of Clarence Valley (7), Kyogle (6), Byron (1) and Tweed (1).

Only one was classed as grassfire with remaining 14 being bushfires and, all were at “Advice” level.

Late last night the bush fire burning in the Tyagarah Nature Reserve north of Byron Bay and moving in a northerly direction towards Brunswick Heads was listed as “Advice” with the rider “Residents of Brunswick Heads should monitor conditions and be alert for smoke and embers.

Byron-Brunswick fire. IMAGES: The Echo, 17.10.23

As at 1:24AM Wednesday 18 October 2023 the NSWRFS fire danger rating for all seven local government areas in the Norther Rivers region – Ballina, Byron, Clarence Valley, Kyogle, Lismore, Richmond Valley, and Tweed – was listed as “Moderate”, as were the the 6 coastal local government areas immediately to the south of our region.

According the Bureau of Meteorology at 8:30 pm EDT last night, Tuesday 17 October 2023, the general weather advice for the Northern Rivers is as follows:

Weather Situation

A strong high pressure system with its centre near western Victoria is drifting across southeast Australia while a low pressure system over the Tasman Sea is slowly moving east, bringing coastal showers together with cool and gusty southerly winds along the coast. Temperatures will gradually increase during the latter part of the week as the high stalls over the Tasman Sea while a trough reaching South Australia deepens into a low pressure system and heads towards Tasmania. A cold front associated with the low looks set to cross the state during the weekend with little rainfall for most parts.

The NSW coastal drought continued to grow in July 2023

 

As of 23 July 2023 – Day 53 of the 92 day official Australian Winter – an est. of 97.7 % of the land area of the NSW wider North Coast is identified Non Drought, 2% Drought Affected and 0.3% in Drought , according to the NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI).

SEE: https://edis.dpi.nsw.gov.au/

The DPI Combined Drought Indicator mapping currently indicates that in the seven Northern Rivers local government areas of north-east NSW at rough estimates:

Est. 7% of the Clarence Valley is In Drought, est. 57% is Drought Affected and 36% Non Drought;

Est. 8% of the Richmond Valley is In Drought, est. 72% is Drought Affected and 20% is Non Drought;

Est. 7% of Lismore is Drought Affected and 93% Non Drought;

Est. 21% of Kyogle is Drought Affected and 79% Non Drought;

Est. 56% of Tweed is Drought Affected and 44% Non Drought;

Est. 100% of Ballina is Non Drought; and

Est. 100% of Byron is Non Drought.

Rainfall deficiencies, Australia, December 2022 to June 2023:

Click on image to enlarge

In north-east New South Wales, an area of serious deficiency extends inland from the west of the ranges, with pockets of serious and severe deficiency east of the Divide and in the Hunter District. [Australian Bureau of Meteorology, 6 July 2023]

A handful of not so fun facts for Yamba residents

 

Matters that state government, local government and regional planning panels should consider (but more often barely notice in passing) before granting consent for large scale residential developments along the NSW coastal zone.

Take Yamba for instance, bounded by the Clarence River estuary and Pacific Ocean...

Probable Maximum Flood (PMF). The largest flood that could conceivably be expected to occur at a particular location, usually estimated from probable maximum precipitation. The PMF defines the maximum extent of flood prone land, that is, the floodplain.

[NEW SOUTH WALES STATE FLOOD PLAN GLOSSARY , February 2018]

“Evacuation

1. Reliable access for pedestrians or vehicles required during a 100 year flood to a publicly accessible location above the PMF”

[RESIDENTIAL ZONES DEVELOPMENT CONTROL PLAN, effective from 23 Dec 2011 , FLOODPLAIN MANAGEMENT CONTROLS, LOWER CLARENCE RIVER FLOODPLAIN, YAMBA FLOODPLAIN & OTHER FLOODPLAINS]

Evacuation Centre: Yamba Bowling And Recreation Club [SES, CLARENCE VALLEY LOCAL FLOOD PLAN ANNEX J]

Click on image to enlarge

Approach to Yamba Bowling Club for most of Yamba population will be blocked by 1-in-100yr Flood at 2.09-2.2m & Extreme Flood at 3.56-3.68m.

In both flood types Yamba will be isolated from the wider Clarence Valley by floodwaters for a matter of days or weeks.

Since 1990 the Lower Clarence River has flooded on average once every three years.  

Albanese Government announces $75 million flood mitigation grant for NSW - drawn from the $3.9 billion national Emergency Response Fund

 

The National Tribune, 26 August 2022:

The Albanese Government has today announced a $75 million investment in flood mitigation and infrastructure resilience programs for New South Wales.

The support will be delivered across the 62 local government areas (LGAs) which were disaster-declared after the February-March flood event.

The program is wholly funded by the Commonwealth Government’s Emergency Response Fund, but will be delivered by New South Wales Government agencies, including Resilience NSW, the Department of Regional NSW and the Department of Planning and Environment.

The program includes:

• $40 million for flood infrastructure: grants for councils and government agencies for flood mitigation projects, including funding for home raising projects.

• $15 million for flood warning gauges: support for councils and government agencies to install, upgrade and operate flood warning gauges, systems and associated advice to make the community aware of the warning system.

• $14 million for a levee assessment and improvement program: flood impact assessments of flood mitigation infrastructure damaged by the February-March flood event. These assessments will be used as the basis for flood mitigation repairs and improvements.

• $5 million for valley level flood assessments: to provide improved information for flood risk management and emergency management decisions, and support improved State-wide understanding of flood risk.

• $1 million for a flood infrastructure impact assessment and report: to outline flood infrastructure impacts, available information on the relative rarity of the flood at key locations and identify known priority flood risk management measures.

In no small measure Northern Rivers communities have helped bring this about by their own passionate advocacy in the media and, before both government & parliamentary inquiries, ably assisted by state MLA for Lismore Janelle Saffin and federal MP for Richmond Justine Elliot.

Almost singlehandedly the policies and actions of the NSW O'Farrell-Baird-Berejiklian-Perrottet coalition governments have brought the Koala to the brink of extinction

https://youtu.be/w8LiyaMs0xU

This century started with celebrations across the state. 

Twenty-two years in and there is little to celebrate in New South Wales.

The state is at the sharp end of climate change impacts, the sharp end of a pandemic and, the sharp end of the Koala extinction crisis.

In 2019-20 alone over 17 million hectares were burnt or impacted and more than 61,000 koalas killed, injured or impacted by fire in the east coast mega bushfire season.

More than than 5.3 million hectares were burnt or impacted in NSW, including 2.7 million hectares of national parks.

In NSW more koala have also been lost to widespread flooding and the stress of habitat loss as the NSW Government continues to allow an unsustainable level of land clearing.

A total of 646,418 hectares have been approved for land clearing in the state between 9 March 2018 and 1 April 2022. The rate at which native vegetation was being cleared was over 61,00 hectares a year.

In 2020-21 the state-owned forestry corporation logged an est. 13,500 hectares of native forest and, as in the past, repeatedly logged in protected areas or known koala habitat.

Currently it is estimated that Australia-wide there may be as few as 43,000 koala left of the est. 7-10 million koala population calculated to exist in 1788. Almost certainly less than 80,000 koala.

In NSW there is some suggestion that the current number of koala left in the wild could be as low as <11,000 individuals in increasingly isolated colonies. Since the 2019-20 devastation of national parks, many of these koalas are now found on private land.

It should be noted that the Abbott-Turnbull-Morrison federal coalition governments' support of the continued logging of New South Wales native forests between September 2013 to May 2022 had exacerbated the rate of land clearing/loss of native tree cover and the environmental impacts which flow from the removal of so many mature trees.

New South Wales. Parliament. Legislative Council. Select Committee on the Response to Major Flooding across New South Wales in 2022. Report no. 1 (9 August 2022).

In February-March 2022 and again in April the seven local government areas in the Northern Rivers region experienced heavy rainfall events, with some local rainfall exceeding historical records that had been kept since the late 1800s. These rainfall events were exacerbated by at least one large East-Coast Low stormfront.

The flood which occurred while often expected, was at times unpredictable in its behaviour, record breaking in its spread, highly destructive and, in the case of Lismore City local government area calamitous.

The 100 kilometre wide coastal zone of New South Wales experienced natural disaster on a scale that would have been hard to imagine before climate change began to widen our experience.

Post-flooding, a state parliamentary select committee was established to inquire into and report on the response to major flooding across New South Wales in 2022. Terms of reference were referred to the committee by the NSW Legislative Council on 23 March 2022 and Report No.1 was published on 9 August 2022.

Set out below is the full report in scrollable form.

However, right now I would note eight of the twenty-one findings of the report. I am sure that many Northern Rivers residents will recognise concerns which local communities have raised repeatedly across the years in times of flood.

Especially once state government decided emergency service headquarters, coordination functions and staff/volunteer numbers were to be either downsized or moved further south and away from north-east New South Wales.

Finding 1

That the NSW State Emergency Service and Resilience NSW failed as lead agencies to provide adequate leadership and effective coordination during the major flooding of February-March 2022.

Finding 2

That NSW Government agencies lacked coordination, created confusion and responded poorly in the February-March 2022 floods, resulting in the North Coast community being let down in their greatest time of need.

Finding 3

That demarcation disputes and a lack of integration between NSW Government agencies slowed the roll-out of support and assistance to those affected by the February-March 2022 floods.

Finding 4

That NSW Government agencies and the Bureau of Meteorology were not prepared for, nor did they comprehend the scale of the February-March 2022 floods, and some agencies were criticised for treating it as a nine to five business operation.

Finding 5

That the centralisation of the NSW State Emergency Service and a shortage of volunteers significantly hindered the ability of the agency to lead the response to the major flooding of February-March 2022.

.......

Finding 7

That the NSW State Emergency Service failed in its public communication of flood warnings and evacuation information during the February-March 2022 floods, by issuing out of date, inaccurate and confusing messages.

Finding 8

That NSW Government agencies and telecommunications providers failed to ensure that communities affected by the February-March 2022 floods had adequate emergency communications capabilities.

Finding 9

That, notwithstanding the role of the NSW State Emergency Service to perform rescues, individual members of the community had no other option but to ignore government advice and save lives, which was only possible due to local and historical knowledge and local communication, given information from the NSW State Emergency Service and the Bureau of Meteorology was incorrect and out of date.

NSW Parliament, Legislative Council, Inquiry Report No 1 - Response to Major Flooding Across New South Wale... by clarencegirl on Scribd

https://www.scribd.com/document/586199870/NSW-Parliament-Legislative-Council-Inquiry-Report-No-1-Response-to-Major-Flooding-Across-New-South-Wales-in-2022

Chair's Foreword

Major flooding in NSW in February-March 2022 was a catastrophic disaster, causing widespread devastation and damage – particularly in the Northern Rivers and Hawkesbury regions. Tragically, lives were lost, thousands of homes were damaged or destroyed, and significant local infrastructure was damaged.

Five months later, families are homeless with some still living in tents, businesses are still waiting for long-promised assistance, and there are still unresolved policy matters involving buy-backs and land swaps – to name just a few of the myriad remaining pressing problems.

This inquiry was set up to consider the NSW Government's preparedness, coordination, and response to the flooding events. While this report outlines many of the failures of the NSW Government, it also seeks to ensure that the Government is better prepared and coordinated when the next natural disaster of this nature inevitably occurs.

A considerable focus of this inquiry was on the performance of the NSW State Emergency Service (SES), as the leading agency for emergency response, and Resilience NSW as the leading agency in recovery.

Ultimately, the committee found that these two organisations failed to provide leadership and effective coordination in the community’s greatest time of need. Demarcation disputes and a lack of integration slowed the roll-out of support and assistance to flood-affected communities.

The State Government’s failure to implement a streamlined grants process also meant that applicants were repeatedly interviewed, and had to re-live their experiences, leading to further frustration and trauma as part of the support process.

With respect to the NSW SES, it is clear that the centralisation of this organisation, and a shortage of volunteers, significantly hindered the ability of the agency to lead the emergency response. In many cases, flood warnings and evacuation information were out of date, inaccurate and confusing. Further still, many community members felt that they had no choice but to conduct their own rescues in dangerous conditions as many calls for assistance to 000 and the NSW SES went unanswered.

Put simply, the community was forced to save themselves; neighbour saving neighbour. While this is an admirable testament to these communities, it is both unreasonable and undesirable as a matter of public policy. For these reasons, the NSW Government should consider restructuring the SES to ensure that it better harnesses local knowledge and networks, coordinates more closely with other rescue agencies, and increases resources, including by driving volunteer recruitment.

Resilience NSW demonstrated some of the biggest failures of the NSW Government's response to the floods. Witnesses repeatedly expressed frustration and were confused about the role of Resilience NSW, particularly in the recovery phase following the floods. The committee found that the NSW Government failed to comprehend the scale of the floods and treated the disaster response as a “nine to five” business operation – when it was one of the greatest natural disasters in generations.

The agency failed to engage or coordinate with community groups leading flood recovery efforts in their communities. This was despite Resilience NSW having been established almost two years ago.

Accordingly, the NSW Government must consider the viability of Resilience NSW unless it can ensure that the agency's role is clear after reviewing policies, objectives, and funding; and that the organisation and its policies are apt to actually meet community disaster response needs.

It is this chair’s view that the NSW Government should abolish Resilience NSW.

Our focus is now on the enormous task of clean-up, restoration and reconstruction. Many flood affected individuals, families and businesses still need assistance. The NSW Government must work with much greater urgency to secure temporary housing options as many continue to live in tents and cars near their homes.

The committee also calls on the government to finalise its long term housing options and ensure that it considers investing in supporting relocations, land swaps, and providing fair compensation for landowners who wish to relocate from severely flood-impacted areas.The committee also made practical recommendations such as providing satellite phones and satellite terminals to community hubs in flood-prone areas.

The committee has noted evidence that – following the appointment of NSW Police Force Deputy Commissioner, Mal Lanyon, to the role of Northern NSW Recovery Coordinator – recovery efforts significantly improved, and that he provided much-needed leadership. The Committee has accordingly recommended a senior police officer with 'combat' experience should lead recovery efforts in future natural disasters as a matter of policy.

On behalf of the committee, I would like to thank the flood-affected communities and individuals who took the time to share their stories with us. It is the committee’s wish that this report will help to improve the NSW Government's response to future natural disasters to minimise adverse effects on local communities.

In total, the committee made 21 findings and 37 recommendations. The committee received almost 90 submissions and almost 120 responses to its online questionnaire. It held six public hearings. This included ones in Ballina; Lismore; Murwillumbah; Windsor; and two at Parliament House.

Significantly, the Committee held four public forums. We hope they were regarded as valuable by flood-stricken communities, given that they allowed 75 flood-affected individuals to speak directly under parliamentary privilege to the committee.

Furthermore, I wish to acknowledge the political leaders – at all three levels of government – who put aside their differences to support their communities. They all cooperated with this inquiry, providing forthright and honest views. This was appreciated.

Finally, I would like to thank my committee colleagues for their collaboration, and the secretariat — particularly Tina Higgins, Shaza Barbar, Stephen Fujiwara and Andrew Ratchford, as well as Hansard staff for their professional assistance on this important Inquiry.

The Hon Walt Secord MLC

Committee Chair