DRUG FLIGHTS SCANDAL: PM TO STEP IN

The Prime Minister is expected to announce today more money for the
Australian Federal Police (AFP), amid concerns that heavy funding cuts are
hindering the fight against crime.

The move comes on the heels of renewed attacks from the Premier, Mr Carr,
over cuts to the front-line fight against drug importations at Sydney
Airport, where only one in 50 international flights is searched for drugs.

Mr Howard's announcement would follow private meetings yesterday between
Government officials and representatives of the Australian Federal Police
Association about the budget controversy.

He is due to address an Interpol conference in Canberra this morning on
Australia's law and order record, and police expect him to announce
increased funding for organised crime detection.

His speech comes as a leaked AFP memo reveals expectations of an $18
million blow-out in the police service's budget this year and outlines
strategies to minimise the impact of the funding crisis. The AFP plans to
shunt about half the blow-out into next year's budget by deferring payments
for about $9 million in purchases.

The memo, distributed to all AFP regional general managers on January 28,
outlines how this can be done by using the Australian Government Credit
Card. It says purchases should be scheduled so that invoices arrive on or
after April 23. The invoices normally require payment in 30 days, so will
not fall due until after May 22.

The memo advises the managers to make the credit card payments at the end
of the 30-day period. This will ensure the purchases don't appear on the
card statements until late June and will not require payment until after
the beginning of the next financial year on July 1.

The AFP memo, titled "1997-98 Resource Allocations and Expenditure Status",
says another $2.8 million in savings must be made from operational support
areas and another $4 million drawn in forward borrowings from the next
year's budget.

The Justice Minister, Senator Vanstone, hit back yesterday at Mr Carr's
weekend attack on the lack of federal police resources aimed at drug
importations through Sydney Airport.

Mr Carr revealed that a NSW police brief estimates that only one in every
50 international flight is being searched for drugs.

In a statement, Senator Vanstone said Mr Carr should "get his own house in
order" before criticising other governments' records on law enforcement.
But she made no mention of the fact that only 2 per cent of international
flights to Sydney are searched.

She said national police figures published last week showed that NSW spent
less per capita on law and order than Victoria, yet had a high crime rate.

"Mr Carr should be examining whether he needs to spend more money on NSW
police instead of worrying about Federal funding," she said.

Senator Vanstone said the Tough on Drugs strategy would see $87.5 million
spent on targeting drug supply and helping drug users.

The AFP was forming three "mobile strike teams" to attack drug importation
and was putting additional funding into witness protection, informant
handling, intelligence gathering and establishing a permanent AFP post in
the Torres Strait to help with the detection of drug running.