Page 4258 - Week 12 - Wednesday, 23 October 2019
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decriminalised fines system in which some people face a criminal charge, some get the fine and others get a warning.
Let us be very clear, for anyone listening in to this debate: the Canberra Liberals are the most conservative branch in the country. They pretend on issues that they will not let their religious or ideological beliefs shape public policy against the wishes of the majority of Canberrans, but why on earth would you support a politician that says they absolutely will not vote for a policy that they absolutely believe in?
While I am on the topic of the Canberra Liberals’ hypocrisy, it is worth drawing to the attention of the wider community an opinion piece written in March 2014. It starts with a question from an 11-year-old:
Dad, if cigarettes are so bad for you, how come they’re legal?
The writer did not have a sensible answer other than to say:
They always have been.
It got them talking about drugs and about why alcohol is legal, considering the many problems it causes, and then about cannabis, and the unanswerable question regarding the weed: if tobacco and alcohol are legal, why isn’t cannabis?
Apparently, the writer of this opinion piece would go on their radio show and bring this up. This writer would apparently battle with their listeners in convincing them that cannabis should be legal. The opinion piece ends with a rip-roaring call to action:
Let’s grow up like Colorado, Washington, Spain, Switzerland, Uruguay and the Netherlands and just legalise it!
I do not normally name-check members of the opposition in this place, but I quite like Mr Parton’s opinion piece. I am very surprised that he has been silent throughout this entire debate. I would urge Mr Parton to come forward and tell the Canberra community his actual views on cannabis legalisation. I suspect that he is too scared because he is worried about the repercussions in the local Liberal branches. I urge all members of this place to vote against this motion.
MR RATTENBURY (Kurrajong) (4.55): The ACT Greens will not be supporting this motion today, in part because the bill as passed has not been enacted and cannot be enacted until such time as the government produces a notifiable instrument before the Assembly outlining the legal and health implications of the effect of the amendments.
This is, as Mr Hanson noted, as a result of the amendment that we moved last time. As is well known, we support this bill and we think it is absolutely the right thing to be doing. But we also know that there are complex areas of medical and legal interaction, and, as the attorney has touched on, we think it is absolutely right to be up-front with the community about that so that they can make informed decisions.
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