Parents vital

I URGE parents to talk to their children about the dangers of the drug ice.

I have travelled Australia holding community consultations on this drug, hearing from mums and dads, health care workers, police and the people caught in the clutches of this drug.

Recently, the Prime Minister and I received independent research on the effectiveness of the Federal Coalition Government’s TV and social media advertising campaign and it reinforced something very important: parents are a huge influence on children’s attitudes to drugs such as ice.

It reported 61 per cent of youth said discussions with parents were a “‘big influence” on their thinking about drugs.

The research shows the ice adverts have been extremely effective – 51 per cent of “at risk” youth who saw the adverts now saying they will avoid ice.

I have two sons and I know that as parents, we cannot control everything. Nevertheless, we do get the chance to have important conversations with our children to help convince them never to try this addictive drug.

We are still by far the biggest influence in our children’s lives.

We have launched the second round of our advertising campaign, but we need parents to get involved too. The simple act of talking with your child and educating them about the dangers of a drug that often contains ingredients including acetone as you would find in nail polish, lithium as in batteries, and ammonia, could one day help them say no.

SENATOR FIONA NASH,

Assistant Minister for Health.