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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 11 Hansard (5 November) . . Page.. 3615 ..

MS REILLY (continuing):

can support their young people and give them some optimism about the future. If we do not provide money for community services to help families, this is not going to lead to a healthy community that can address such an important issue as drug use in the ACT.

In a number of instances, we continue to condemn young people. When young people do wrong they get publicity. The response to the report on skateboards and the use of public space by young people gave no recognition to the skill and expertise of skateboard riders but said that they should be put into special areas. Their use of Garema Place was condemned. The Government took out the seats and changed the configuration. It did not look at the issues but looked superficially at the physical environment. At least within the drug culture some young people get support and acceptance they do not get in other areas of their lives. When they look in the papers and they look at the general community, their feelings of failure are only accentuated.

In supporting this motion we need to make sure that we end up with job programs that recognise the reality of the community in which we live, that are innovative and that are responsive to the reality of the Australian community today. We should not follow John Howard's line of thinking that if he introduces something that he learnt about in 1950 it will work in 1997, but we should look at who are using drugs and why they are using drugs and set up programs that support and assist those people. We should not set up programs that just give more jobs to police without benefiting the community. Obviously, enforcement has a role to play, but it is not the only way to address this very complex issue. We need a broad range of rehabilitation programs. I was pleased to see that the Chief Minister is going to look at a residential program for younger people in the ACT. If she manages to obtain sufficient money to run this program, I hope that she ensures that it is set up quickly and that the money does not sit in the Health Department for a couple of years while she thinks about it. This program, which is urgently needed, should be set up as soon as possible.

I ask for support for this motion. We cannot continue to bury our heads in the sand when we have evidence of young people, particularly young people under the age of 16, using drugs in situations that are harmful to themselves and the rest of the community. We need to support the motion Mr Berry has put up. It was silly of Mrs Carnell to try to tie Mr Berry with John Howard. The methods by which they want to handle programs are totally different. John Howard has no idea of what is happening in Australia, while Mr Berry is aware of the needs of the ACT community. (Extension of time granted) We need a broad range of programs. We need to leave in paragraph (4) the words "programs put in place should primarily seek to deter people, particularly young people, from taking up drugs". It is not just rehabilitation programs we need. We need to look at how young people are accepted into our community and what programs are available for them in employment, in education, in health and in housing, as well as looking at drugs. This is important. We need to make sure that the motion as put up by Mr Berry is accepted in full.

MR BERRY (Leader of the Opposition) (12.02): Mr Speaker, I want to speak to the amendments which have been moved by Mrs Carnell. Mrs Carnell, in her first amendment, seeks to include me in the same ideological grouping as John Howard in relation to drugs. What a joke! In her second amendment she tries to draw in other Federal governments as well. If the Assembly so decides, that will be the case.

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