Page 3413 - Week 10 - Thursday, 20 October 2022

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I do not believe that every Canberran that uses MDMA needs to attend a drug diversion program, and I do not believe that every Canberran that uses methamphetamine would be well suited to the issuance of a fine. It is complicated, and it requires judgment calls. This bill allows those important judgement calls to be made. It is time to treat the drug use as the health issue it is. We should be providing healthcare, not handcuffs. The criminalisation of drug possession does more harm than good. As a restorative justice city, we have moved away from punitive ideas of justice. We should not be criminalising otherwise law-abiding citizens. Madam Speaker, I look forward to the Assembly concluding this debate today and I am hopeful that we will forge a new path forward.

Question put:

That this bill be agreed to in principle.

The Assembly voted—

Ayes 13		Noes 6
Mr Barr	Ms Orr		Mr Cain
Ms Berry	Dr Paterson		Ms Castley
Mr Braddock	Mr Pettersson		Mr Hanson
Ms Burch	Mr Rattenbury		Mrs Kikkert
Ms Cheyne	Mr Steel		Mr Milligan
Ms Clay	Ms Stephen-Smith		Mr Parton
Mr Davis

Question resolved in the affirmative.

Bill agreed to in principle.

Detail stage

Proposed new part 1 heading.

MS STEPHEN-SMITH (Kurrajong—Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs, Minister for Families and Community Services and Minister for Health) (11.33): I move amendment No 2 circulated in my name, which inserts a new part 1 heading, and table a supplementary explanatory statement to the government amendments [see schedule 1 at page 3500].

I will speak in detail on some of the subsequent amendments but in starting off—and so that I do not forget—I want to record my thanks to the ACT Health Directorate officials, who have worked incredibly hard on this bill, insuring that we get the right balance in terms of both the amounts of drugs to be decriminalised in this arrangement—which we will talk about later—but also their very close work with the alcohol and other drugs sector and with those with lived experience to really understand exactly how we could make this bill do what Mr Pettersson had intended it to do and to be workable. I also want to thank ACT Policing for the work that they

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