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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 2 Hansard (27 February) . . Page.. 353 ..

MR HUMPHRIES (Attorney-General) (4.19): Mr Speaker, I think that what the speech by the Leader of the Opposition has just demonstrated is that, if some votes beckon in the sight of the Labor Party, they will chase those at the expense of principle.

Mr Berry: Answer me, Gary. Has the Government endorsed it? What is the Government's position?

MR HUMPHRIES: If you are patient, Mr Berry, you will hear about that in just a moment.

Mr Berry: I did not hear it from the earlier one. I heard what Mrs Carnell's position was.

MR HUMPHRIES: Just be patient and you will hear a bit about that. Mr Speaker, I am extremely disappointed by the comments made by Rosemary Follett in this place. You do not need to be a genius to realise that this is an issue of enormous sensitivity on which there will have to be not only a continuing very great debate within the ACT but also a very considerable debate at the national level. This issue will not proceed, it will not advance in any rational way for that debate to take place, much less for there ever to be a heroin trial, if parties at the core of that debate attempt to make it a party political issue and attempt to score points on it.

Mr Berry: You set the standard.

MR HUMPHRIES: On this issue no, we have not. We have tried to make this as neutral an issue as possible. Faced with the fact that there has been a decision so far to put this issue to a very comprehensive public consultation process, on which we have just been complimented by Ms Follett, and given the enormous community concern in some quarters about this trial, that represents an extremely ambitious task on the part of the Chief Minister and Minister for Health, for which she receives no credit whatsoever from those opposite. These hypocrites opposite say that they would like to see a trial take place, that they would like to advance this issue, but in fact they are prepared to put the boot into what would have to be a partnership arrangement in making this happen at the earliest opportunity.

Mr Berry interjected before and asked what the Government's position on this proposal is. The answer is very simple. The Government at this point does not have a position on the heroin trial.

Mr Berry: Thank you. Ha, ha!

MR HUMPHRIES: Mr Berry thinks that is very amusing and very funny. I might point out that his Opposition Labor Party did not have a position on, for example, the euthanasia legislation that was considered by the Assembly last year. There was no position. You had different members voting in different ways. This Government voted unanimously on that particular issue, but did we say, "The Labor Opposition cannot determine a policy."? No, we did not. We were more mature than that. Mr Berry obviously cannot bring himself and his party to exhibit the same maturity.

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