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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2000 Week 7 Hansard (10 July) . . Page.. 2387 ..

MR STANHOPE (continuing):

Mr Moore must know, in his heart of hearts, that, if he rolls over now and postpones this trial, a trial almost certainly will never happen. If Mr Moore rolls over today, if Mr Moore abandons his position of principle and conscience today, the trial probably will be off forever. This will be the nail in the coffin. The trial will not be resuscitated if it is postponed today; it will not happen in the ACT. Mr Moore must know in his heart of hearts that if he rolls over today the trial will be off.

It is fair to say that no-one in this place was, at least as overtly, as strongly committed to the project as he was. We all recall Mr Moore saying on 9 December last year:

That is, to the point of having legislation authorising the trial before the Assembly. How great will Mr Moore's frustration be over the next 18 months while he waits for something to commence when he knows that he could have had it now and he is waiting only because he voted for the postponement? How great will be the frustration or the sincerity as he contemplates the need to wait, knowing in his heart of hearts that the trial will never happen because he rolled over today? It will never happen if he does. This will be the nail in the coffin. There will be no safe injecting place in the ACT if the trial is postponed today. It will not be resuscitated.

I suppose Mr Moore realises that postponing the trial will give his conservative mates in the Liberal Party and on the crossbench the time to whip up the failed conservative candidates who are now around this town waiting for the opportunity to have another go. Together they will marshal the prejudice that will be required to defeat any future attempts at progressive drug law reform.

The Labor Party announced the proposition that a separate appropriate bill for the injecting place should be put forward. That was done to allow members of the Assembly to indicate their support or otherwise for the injecting room trial now, not at some supposed future time and not after more of the lives that we are concerned for and that Mr Smyth and Mrs Carnell spoke so eloquently about have been lost and not before the ambulance service has been called to hundreds or thousands more drug overdoses.

If a separate appropriation bill had been voted down it would then be open for any member opposed to the trial to put forward a repeal bill. As Mr Stefaniak said during the budget debate, that is the proper course to take. I think it is fair for those of us who defend the trial to say here today that those opposed to the trial should introduce legislation to repeal the act. If you are that opposed to it that you want to put it off for a couple of years and have another think about it, show some confidence and show some integrity in your position and move today to repeal it.

Postponing the commencement of the operation of the trial in the way that is being attempted here is hypocritical in the extreme. Either you want the trial or you do not. If you have any integrity and if you have any faith in your position, seek to repeal the legislation. Move for it today. Move to repeal it, rather than having the charade that you are floating here whereby you are actually having two bob each way; you just want to put it off for another couple of years to have a think about it.

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