Good afternoon. Today I want to talk to you about the second Indicators and Progress report on the Government's plan to fight P, which comes one year after the plan was launched.

New Zealanders are well aware P is a problem. The drug hooks people from all walks of life.

It creates misery for those who are addicted to it, for their families, and communities. Quite simply, we want to stamp it out.

This is why the plan is a cross-departmental one, bringing together government agencies to fight P on all fronts.

The plan involves Police and Customs on the frontline, along with the Ministries of Health and Justice, the Department of Corrections and Te Puni Kokiri.

I'm pleased to announce this milestone report shows:

• The Police's and Customs' crackdown is continuing to produce high levels of pseudoephedrine and methamphetamine seizures.
  
• The number of clan lab busts is up on last year; and
  All new residential treatment beds are in place, six months ahead of schedule.
  
• The price of P has been rising over the past four years, with the latest figures from Police surveys of arrested drug users suggesting it is steady at its highest-ever level, at an average of $723 a gram.
  
• As I outlined in May at the release of the plan's six-month progress report, one of the main prongs of attack in our effort to stamp out P is breaking supply chains.

The Police's increased focus on P has seen more offences detected and offenders apprehended.

For the year to September 30th, Police dismantled 105 clan labs, 11 more than in the same period last year.

Border seizures of pseudoephedrine this year look like they will rival the record amount seized during 2009 - which was 1.2 tonnes.

The amount seized so far, 821 kilos, would have been able to make up to 220 kilos of methamphetamine - a value of $220 million dollars.

Over 25 kilos of methamphetamine, with a street value of around $25 million dollars, has been seized so far this year by Police and Customs - compared to 20 kilos seized for the whole of 2009.

The impact of the Criminal Proceeds (Recovery) Act is continuing to be felt.  Since the Act came into force last December, Police have identified $48 million dollars worth of assets believed to have been obtained through criminal activity.

Of that $48 million, $46 million has been gained through drug offending, of which over $30 million is linked to methamphetamine.

Of the $48 million, $29.7 million dollars worth of assets have been restrained and held by the Official Assignee.

The price of P on New Zealand's streets appears to be holding steady at all-time high levels, with the average price sitting at $723 per gram.

This is up from $610 dollars in 2006.  It's not getting cheaper for people wanting to feed their habits.

For those people who want help, all new treatment beds we promised under the Action Plan are being used, six months ahead of schedule. Waiting times for residential treatment have fallen over the past two years.

The Department of Corrections is now operating eight specialist drug treatment units in prisons - the Police Minister opened the latest one at Auckland Prison last week.

I'd also just like to add that today is the start of the Police's Methamphetamine Awareness Week.

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