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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2000 Week 11 Hansard (29 November) . . Page.. 3357 ..

MR OSBORNE (continuing):

a bigot simply because they hold a different point of view on a particular issue is typical of the sloping-forehead and knuckles-dragging-on-the-ground approach that the Labor Party has become so famous for in the ACT.

It is good to know, Mr Speaker, that there are no bigots in the ALP; what a relief that is! It is good to know that they hold no strong views on any issue, and whatever views they do have on any given subject are agreed with by the entire Canberra community! I also note that, while the ALP may criticise this bill, they have no solution to offer to the problems posed by the tens of thousands of used needles that litter our community every year.

I would be interested to hear how much weight the Labor Party has placed on the opinions of some of their own members, such as the Transport Workers Union and the CFMEU. Both unions have publicly stated this week that the problems caused by discarded needles are horrendous at construction sites and other workplaces around the city.

While the opposition fancies themselves as the champions of occupational health and safety, they might do well to listen to what their own people are saying and take a closer look at their working conditions. Here is a chance for them to do something positive for their own members, instead of just dishing out a bit more bland and stodgy criticism.

Mr Speaker, I am pleased that the proponents of needle distribution have at long last accepted that the unsafe disposal of used needles is a problem, although there is still disagreement about the actual size of the problem. Some of the literature I have read over the last year or so by pro-needle groups, such as the Australian National Council on AIDS, Hepatitis C and Related Diseases, presents quite a distorted or, in fact, dishonest picture of the discarding of needles.

Either they downplay the extent of the problem or deny outright that a problem even exists and say that it is all just a beat-up by the media as they pander to the prejudices of the public. In case members are a bit sceptical of that claim, I quote from a May publication of the organisation I just mentioned, entitled Needle and syringe programs: your questions answered:

Obviously, whoever wrote that piece of propaganda has never walked around Canberra with their eyes open. Mr Speaker, I and many others in Canberra have grown tired of the ever increasing number of used syringes and needles we come across in public places in the city. They can now be found in almost any public space: school playgrounds, parkland, around children's playing equipment, on sports fields and in waterways and car parks, to name but a few.

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