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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 9 Hansard (2 September) . . Page.. 2772 ..

MR HUMPHRIES (continuing):

That debate is going on, and has been going on for some time. We have seen the Waller inquiry in the ACT; people from a great many backgrounds coming together and agreeing that we need to explore new avenues for producing solutions to our drug problems. We saw the Wood royal commission in New South Wales recommending that a heroin trial proceed as a further front in dealing with the problems of the community. We saw the Ministerial Council on Drug Strategy, or at least a majority of that council, agree that we need to look at new directions, and a heroin trial in the ACT would be an appropriate option in that armoury. That is not to mention people like capital city mayors, the AMA, the churches, the police commissioners and others who have all agreed that the problem of heroin abuse in our community is at such a serious stage that we need to take some new steps.

Mr Temporary Deputy Speaker, I believe that what we have seen today and in the last few weeks has been a cynical attempt by the Australian Labor Party to back away because they believe that they need the votes. They would rather see the chances of drug reform put back a few years than lose a possible chance, no matter how long a shot it might be, to win the 1998 election. It is cynical politics in the extreme. Those opposite who believe that there should be a change in policy, who have gone along with this policy because they are led by a desperate man over there, should be ashamed of themselves. They should have stood up to this sort of politics of cynicism and shown some leadership even if their leader would not. Of course, Mr Temporary Deputy Speaker, they do not have much choice, do they? They are stuck with Mr Berry, the harlot, for the next six months. If we see this sort of policy pursued up until the election we know what their fate will be on 21 February next year.

MRS CARNELL (Chief Minister and Minister for Health and Community Care) (4.58), in reply: I understand that I will be closing the debate, and we are not having an MPI, are we?

MR TEMPORARY DEPUTY SPEAKER: Yes, you are closing the debate. That is correct, Chief Minister.

MRS CARNELL: The attempts to establish an ACT heroin trial followed a long and very rocky road, ending suddenly in the Commonwealth's decision not to support the trial last month. I am still very disappointed, as I am sure at least some of the members of this Assembly are, that the Federal Cabinet was swayed by what was a very ill-informed scare campaign which effectively means that one new, important approach to the treatment of heroin addiction cannot, at this stage anyway, be tested in Australia. As members will recall, the ACT heroin trial originally grew out of a recommendation to the Select Committee on HIV, Illegal Drugs and Prostitution. We all have to acknowledge Mr Moore's role in piloting that recommendation through the committee and establishing a connection with the National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, which in June 1995 released its report entitled "Report and Recommendations of Stage 2 Feasibility Research into the Controlled Availability of Opioids". The report included a recommendation that a task force be established to conduct community consultations about the proposed clinical trial testing the efficacy of heroin prescription.

Debate interrupted.

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