Ice epidemic shocks Martin

He is one of Australia’s most experienced journalists, but even veteran newsman Ray Martin was shocked by how widespread ice use has become in regional Australia.

“I understood it was a serious problem, I have done a couple of stories about ice in the city, but I hadn’t been bush to look at it and I must say the most shocking thing to find was just how widespread it is,” Martin said.

“I thought I knew about it, which I guess people in the bush think they know about it as well, but suddenly when you see the stark reality of it you realise it is a devastating, deadly, ugly drug that isn’t going to stop itself without people doing something about it.”

The five-time Gold Logie award winner has joined GWN7 News to present the public affairs special Ice: The Scourge of Regional Australia, airing on Monday at 7.30pm.

Martin met police, doctors, emergency workers and rehabilitation staff around Australia to investigate why ice addiction is more prevalent in regional Australia and what is being done to help these communities.

“It became a sub-theme of our documentary that all these beautiful places often people go to seek paradise, also have this ugly, to hell and back drug,” Martin said.

“We are told from everything we read there is nowhere worse than Bunbury – Bunbury has a shocking problem. Again it almost seems to be this weird correlation between beautiful places and ice problem.

“It is relatively cheap, it is accessible. We were staggered when they told us in all these country towns they can get it in 10 minutes.”

Martin met parents who had lost children to ice-induced depression and suicide and others dealing with ice-related domestic violence.

But he said there was hope.

“If we were just going to tell the devastating story of ice...there needs to be some sort of light at the end of the tunnel,” Martin said.

“What we found from the fantastic police featured in this, and hospitals, was that it’s not going to go away, it’s getting worse.

“We need good communities around Australia, WA do it all the time. There needs to be social and community action.

“The action the police say has got to go beyond police, it’s got to be sporting clubs, it’s got to be schools, it’s got to be churches, it’s got to be family groups...to try to head it off as preventative medicine rather than afterwards.”