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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2000 Week 1 Hansard (17 February) . . Page.. 248 ..

Mr Rugendyke: Clubs, restaurants?

MR HUMPHRIES: Sometimes in restaurants, yes. We see them in the toilets of airport lounges and in all sorts of private facilities. Last night I was at the Canberra Theatre and they were available in the toilets there. A large number of institutions have seen the need to install those sorts of needle disposal facilities.

Mr Rugendyke: Voluntarily. Okay, good. Voluntarily. Fantastic idea.

MR HUMPHRIES: I heard you in silence, Mr Rugendyke, and I would appreciate the same courtesy. The evidence is that a large number of needles are being used in an around the Civic area in particular. In one month alone, I think November of last year, almost 2,000 needles were picked up in public places in the city. That was in one part of our city, and of course there were many needles in other parts of the city as well. We cannot deny that this is a major public health issue.

The question is: What evidence is there of drug use in private premises in our community, in particular in pubs and taverns? The Australian Hotels Association has no doubt lobbied all of us about this matter and argued that illicit drug use is not a significant problem on licensed premises in the ACT. I might diverge slightly in referring to the lobbying of the AHA in which they have referred quite categorically to their lack of a problem with illicit drug use on their premises. They have certainly put that to me in meetings I have had with them. However, almost in the same breath, or in another part of the correspondence or the meetings with us, they have said they are opposed to the Government's requirement, also in the standards manual, that licensees provide free water. When I asked the AHA why they were opposed to their members supplying free water to their patrons, the answer was that people are using ecstasy in our clubs and they do not wish to supply the water which ecstasy consumers use to keep themselves hydrated while they are having a trip on ecstasy.

It seems that the assertion that there is not illicit drug use going on in their premises is a little too broad, even on the AHA's own admission. They are asserting to us that there is not intravenous drug use going on in their premises. I do not believe that for one instant. I do not believe the evidence points to that fact at all. The fact is that a number of licensed premises in this town do have needle bins installed. As late as last weekend, when liquor licensing inspectors examined those bins, they saw that there were a number of needles in the bins of at least a couple of premises where those bins are installed.

Can the AHA or the licensees of those premises explain to me where those needles came from? Were they inserted in the bins for decorative effect? Were they there when the bins were installed and they just have not been taken out? Are the bins not removed and replaced regularly? I do not think the record will show that.

Just last weekend liquor licensing inspectors observed a significant number of needles on the back stairs of one licensed premises in Civic, stairs which I understand are accessible only from the nightclub itself. Apparently people are not using the nightclub

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