Page 501 - Week 02 - Tuesday, 21 February 2012
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MR HARGREAVES: A supplementary, Mr Speaker.
MR SPEAKER: Yes, Mr Hargreaves.
MR HARGREAVES: Minister, can you advise the Assembly what the average cost per roadside drug test is actually?
MR CORBELL: I thank Mr Hargreaves for the question. The cost will vary depending upon whether or not a second or third test is required. Obviously, tests that are undertaken in the laboratory come at a much higher cost than the throwaway test by the roadside.
For those people who test negative by the roadside, no further test is required. For those who test positive by the roadside, additional tests are required which increase the cost. So it would depend on the circumstances and the number of negative versus the number of positive tests.
MR SMYTH: A supplementary, Mr Speaker.
MR SPEAKER: Yes, Mr Smyth.
MR SMYTH: Attorney-General, does the increase in the number of officers trained in random roadside drug testing procedure indicate that the ACT Labor Government has backflipped on its opposition to this initiative and now supports random roadside drug testing?
MR CORBELL: You will recall, Mr Speaker—and Mr Smyth should recall—that the government had to come back into this place and significantly revise the legislation that was passed by the Assembly because it was unworkable. Let us just remember that it was this Labor government that made sure the scheme could be delivered on the ground by ACT Policing. Those opposite can try to take some sort of credit for this, but the fact was, and the fact is, Mr Speaker, that they legislated for a scheme that could not be implemented by our police.
Mr Hanson: I am seeking your advice, Mr Speaker. In the course of the answers to the question I believe that the minister may have misled the Assembly. I am seeking your guidance on the procedures for dealing with that. In my view, the issue was that the minister claimed that the government supported the legislation. My understanding is that they did not. I am seeking your advice on the procedures to follow on that.
MR CORBELL: There is no point of order, Mr Speaker.
Mr Smyth: We are seeking advice.
MR CORBELL: On the matter raised by Mr Hanson, my answer was “ultimately supported the legislation”—and that is indeed the case.
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