Page 4701 - Week 11 - Wednesday, 19 October 2011
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participants’ characteristics, selection criteria, geographic variations in hepatitis C prevalence, and detention conditions at the different facilities.
Surprisingly, the seroconversion rate was lower among those who had been continually incarcerated between surveys than those who had spent time in the community. The likely explanation for this is the reduction in injecting due to the limited supply of drugs in prison and some IDU abstaining from this behaviour during their incarceration.
The argument that I have been making is that the academic research—and that comes from Michael Levy and it comes from Tony Butler; they wrote that report—indicates that hep C transmission amongst this demographic is lower outside jail than it is inside jail. That is the academic research. So you can pour scorn on me as you like, and I know that there have been letters written saying that this was based on some corridor conversation I had. That is not the case; this is based on a forum that I went to at the ANU where Professor Butler presented. I then had a conversation with him afterwards. I then referred to the academic paper that he discussed and I used this quote in a very specific circumstance. So stop trying to malign me.
The second point is what the ANF have said. It is quite clear that the ANF members have a mixed view and you have quoted from some of those. If you read their submission there are a significant number of mixed views. But let me quote what they said:
As can be seen from the comments above, there are a number of quite divergent views expressed by nurses currently working at the AMC. As all the proposed models, excluding NSP Model 1 (Vending Style Machines), require the support and assistance of nursing staff and/or utilisation of the Health Centre resources, the ACT ANF considers their views need to be given considerable weight in any planned implementation of an NSP at the AMC. What is apparent is that currently nurses employed at the AMC do not support the establishment of a supervised injecting room at the AMC.
I am not saying that the ANF are not open to further conversations. I am not saying that they have ruled it out. What I am saying is that the paper that has been provided to them, the report that has been provided which is Katy Gallagher’s plan for the implementation of an NSP, has not been supported by the ANF. That is quite clear and let me put on the record that that is what I am saying. So—
Ms Gallagher: Well, maybe you could put it on the twittersphere then.
MR ASSISTANT SPEAKER: Order! Mr Hanson has the floor.
MR HANSON: I know that the Chief Minister is obsessed by Twitter and she thinks that is open and accountable government. But I would rather have my words as they are said here clarify exactly what I am saying. If you are going to take 100-character twitter and then try and twist that somehow, that is not correct. Speak to the ANF. I have made my position very clear, as have they. You may not like it.
This is the first time we have heard about the prevalence of tattooing from the Chief Minister. This is a new part of the debate and I look forward to seeing what she has
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