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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2000 Week 7 Hansard (10 July) . . Page.. 2413 ..

MR WOOD (continuing):

We must resist most strongly. But we must also deal with the impacts of illicit drugs. We cannot simply walk away and say, "Stop the drugs coming in" and leave it at that. That is not going to work. I do not believe that those who oppose the supervised injecting room have satisfactorily dealt with that issue. We know what you do not want, and we can understand that. But how will be now proceed to deal with the problems the drug trades bring to us?

We should say no, but we cannot just say no and leave it at that. We cannot just rely on policing and the law, though effective they need to be. My approach today is to ask us all-government, opposition, crossbenchers-to start to focus on future debates in this Assembly, perhaps not about the injecting room but what other options we may take. Yes, stop the flow, as much as it is within our power to do that, but consider those further options. What more might we do? The supervised injecting room might be finished, but the debate on the handling of the illicit drug problem is not finished.

MR STEFANIAK (Minister for Education) (3.18): Mr Speaker, 11 November 1975 was a day I recall well. Most of us are old enough to recall the events of that day.

Mr Berry: You want us to have a Senate here, do you?

MR STEFANIAK: Mr Berry seems to want to have a Senate here. The principle is exactly the same, whether you have a unicameral legislature or a bicameral legislature. I recall coming back to the legal workshop where I was at the time, as one of 27 students whose number included Mr Stanhope, the current Leader of the Opposition. When I came back at 2 o'clock, I found 10 of my fellow students gathered around a radio with Beth Campbell, secretary to Kevin O'Leary, the director. I remember hearing the announcer state, "And the Governor-General has sacked the Prime Minister." Being a good solid conservative at the time-and I still am-I recall retorting, "You little beauty." I got rounded on solidly by my 10 colleagues because most of the workshop were Labor supporters then. I recall Beth turning to me and saying, "After 10 years at this university I have finally found another Liberal."

The events were amazing because I then had the privilege, as I look on it now, of going to the old Parliament House to see Gough Whitlam and hear him say, "Well may we say, 'God save the Queen,' because nothing will save the Governor-General" and to see Sir David Smith read out his proclamation. I recall the various rallies. I went to a few of them out of interest. I was voting Liberal in that election, but I went to some of the ALP rallies out of interest. I recall for the first week the anger in the community directed against the then opposition and caretaker Fraser government for what it had done and the significant jump the ALP got in the polls. It did not last long and, of course, Malcolm Fraser and the Liberal and Country parties won a resounding electoral victory in December of that year.

I recall quite clearly that the step the Fraser opposition had taken was almost unprecedented. It was something that had occurred once in New South Wales during the Lang premiership. A fundamental tenet of Western democracy is that a government is entitled to its budget.

Mr Wood: Upper houses do not intrude in budget matters.

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