The price of illicit drugs is so much higher in Australia, that criminals are willing to risk jail to smuggle them in. File picture: Tim Hunter Source: News Limited
- Strong Australian dollar attracts criminals, says report
- Trots out the "penal colony" line
- Comes after outrage at Melbourne Cup antics
AUSTRALIA'S booming economy has turned the country into a magnet for sex workers, drug dealers and rock and roll stars looking to cash in.
Well, at least that's what the British are being led to believe.
Just weeks after a few high-spirited people at the Melbourne Cup led to the UK press labelling us a nation of drunks, The Daily Mail has published a lengthy expose of Australia's supposed criminal culture.
"Australia, once an 18th century penal colony, is still attracting criminals although it would seem they are now going there out of choice," the report, begins.
"The nation's strong economy, high currency and wages have now made it a magnet for international drug smugglers and foreign sex workers.
"Even rock and roll stars are getting in on the act and reaping rewards of performing in a country that is prepared to pay top dollar to have them."
This comes after the Daily Mail tut-tutted about our "shocking" behaviour in front of Prince Charles and his missus Camilla at Flemington, where the sight of people rolling around in the paddock revealing their knickers, sucking grog through while dressed as a horse or going the pash in public, was apparently too much for decent people.
The latest report comes after the Australian dollar's steady rise on international currency markets. The dollar now buys about 62 pence. In 2001, it bought just half that.
Sex workers also are cashing in on Australia's robust economy.
The report states that police across Australia made 69,500 illicit drug busts in the year to June 30, 2012, the highest in a decade, and have made record arrests in the first six months of this financial year.
It quotes Crime Commission data given to Reuters which shows a kilogram of cocaine is worth about $A2400 in Colombia, $A12,500 in Mexico, and $A33,000 in the United States.
The same kilogram of cocaine is worth $A220,000 in Australia.
Federal police said the high prices paid in Australia and the strong dollar all helped make the country attractive for smugglers, who have dreamed up some ingenious ways to try to fool Customs, including trying to bring drugs hidden in a steamroller, vases and a wooden altar.
The report adds that foreign sex workers are also cashing in on the boom, particularly in remote mining towns, where the world's oldest profession is the latest to adopt fly-in, fly-out work practices. And more overseas sex workers are heading for Australia.
In Kalgoorlie, women in her establishment earned up to £2,570 a week at a busy time, or about three times the average full-time Australian wage.
But it's not just crims and sex workers cashingin, says the report. Foreign rock stars, lured by the promise of star-starved Aussies shelling out big bucks for tickets, are also cashing in.
A drunk punter sleeps it off after the Melbourne Cup. This kind of behaviour shocked the Brits. Picture: David Crosling
In the first half of 2013, Australia will see tours by Bruce Springsteen, Pink, Guns N'Roses, Ringo Starr, ZZ Top, Thin Lizzy, the Steve Miller Band, Deep Purple, Santana, Status Quo, Robert Plant, Neil Young, Carole King, Paul Simon and Kiss.
Springsteen charges $220 for a premium ticket in Australia, when the same ticket to the same show in Connecticut in October cost $90, outraging fans.
Read the Daily Mail's full report on criminals coming Down Under
Australia is becoming a haven for international criminals because of the strong dollar, according to a report in the Daily Mail.That's why we love Underbelly.
Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang
Why crims and ageing rockers love Oz
Dengan url
http://cikiniseo.blogspot.com/2012/12/why-crims-and-ageing-rockers-love-oz.html
Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya
Why crims and ageing rockers love Oz
namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link
Why crims and ageing rockers love Oz
sebagai sumbernya
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar