Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . .

Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2000 Week 1 Hansard (17 February) . . Page.. 307 ..

MR STANHOPE (continuing):

Mr Humphries said, "Well, what would you expect them to say?". Mr Humphries is saying that he would probably expect them to lie about it. I have no reason to believe that the tavern owners lied to me. In fact, I choose to believe that they did not.

There is some evidence that licensing inspectors have seen some syringes and, of course, one expects that they would. We in this place have no reason to assume that there is not an injecting drug user in the Legislative Assembly, but there are no syringe disposal units in the Legislative Assembly. The Government has not seen fit, through the office of the Speaker, to provide syringe disposal units for politicians or workers in this place. I raise that simply to ask: Why pick on these 81 premises? We have not even got our own house in order. This is a significant problem. How many syringe disposal units are there in the Chief Minister's Department? Are we seriously to suggest that there are no injecting drug users throughout the Public Service? Of course there are. The majority of injecting drug users in the ACT are recreational users. They are users that perhaps have not slipped to the stage of hopeless addiction, been reduced to the levels of degradation that some others have and who are forced to live on the street.

There are significant numbers of injecting drug users throughout the Public Service. What is the Government's response to the provision of syringe disposal units throughout the entire Public Service? How many syringe disposal units are there in the Nara building? How consistent an approach has this Government taken to the question of syringe disposal units, and why are we leaving it to the Liquor Licensing Board to develop our first foray into the difficult issue of developing a Canberra-wide, coordinated, cross-departmental response to this incredibly difficult issue?

The Labor Party is echoing - this may be cold comfort to the Australian Hotels Association and to tavern owners - the sentiment expressed this morning by Mr Kaine. If the Government does the job properly - if it goes away, develops perhaps an interdepartmental committee of some sort, across departments, and looks seriously at the question of syringe disposal - then I think that the Labor Party would look much more kindly at it. (Further extension of time granted) We would then be disposed to looking much more favourably at that approach.

But the Government really does need to do the job properly. It is simply not appropriate to come in here and give some anecdotal evidence - none of it backed by stats - when it can, at the same time, provide us with, for instance, the number of sharps collected by Urban Services and detailed stats. They can tell us that in July 1999 they picked up two syringes in Gungahlin; that in November 1999 they picked up 1,996 syringes in Civic; and that in August 1999 they collected 29 syringes in Tuggeranong. But the Government cannot tell us how many syringes were collected in private premises. They cannot tell us whether they took any steps to ascertain from the owners of private premises whether any have been found in private premises or the steps that need to be taken.

This issue has been recognised by a range of other licensed premises. The Labor Club is installing syringe disposal units. I am sure other clubs around town have made decisions. The Canberra Casino has installed syringe disposal units. If Mr Humphries had been serious about this initiative, he would have come to us and said, "Well, since the - - -

Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . .