Richard Colbeck (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Agriculture) Share this | Hansard source

Firstly, if a substance is presented as having a therapeutic use, it will be exempt. I think I have mentioned that to you before. If substances are captured, it will be open to the importer to establish that they have a legitimate use. So I go back to the point that I made at the outset: we are taking this approach deliberately to stay ahead of an ever-changing market. You can attempt to prescribe as much as you like—as occurs in some other places—but you will never capture everything; I do not think it is possible. I know that you are looking for a very specific definition. The government has taken a deliberate decision to have a broad definition. I think that you are also right that we could go around this for a considerable period of time if that is what you want to do. You are looking for something specific; the government has taken a deliberate decision to have something that is not so specific but is broad. The reason that we have done that is to stay ahead of an ever-changing drug market, and it is a deliberate strategy of the government.