Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations) Share this | Hansard source

Before moving the motion I would seek leave to amend it, in the terms circulated in the chamber.

Leave granted.

I amend the motion and now move the amended motion:

The motion was unavailable at the time of publishing.

It's not often that you stand in dismay in the Australian Senate, but I do that today. In moving this motion, why do I stand in dismay? Because every Australian parent wants their children to grow up in a safe environment, every man and woman should be entitled to walk the streets in their suburbs without fear, and every family should be free from the misery and pain of drug dependency. The reason I have moved this motion is that these things are under threat in the Australian Capital Territory. It is a very simple motion. All it will do is establish a committee to inquire into and report on the ACT government's concerning laws that come into effect in less than a fortnight. The ACT government's Drugs of Dependence (Personal Use) Amendment Act 2022 will commence formally on 28 October 2023. This is legislation that, by the ACT government's own admission, was rushed through the ACT Legislative Assembly as a private member's bill. Why did they do that? To avoid scrutiny. I say: shame on the ACT government for rushing through the ACT assembly a bill that will have a detrimental impact on not just people in the ACT but, potentially, people throughout Australia.

Let's talk about what's going to happen in about two weeks, on 28 October. The Labor-Greens government will roll out the red carpet to the following: ice, heroin, cocaine, speed, acid and other drugs. In my humble opinion, our nation's capital, let alone any other place in Australia, should not be the drug capital of Australia. While the ACT government has decided to move away from scrutiny of this piece of legislation, I personally believe, given its potential implications for the health and safety of both Canberrans and the wider community, that the Australian Senate should undertake the scrutiny of this particular legislation. If the motion is successful, the Senate will investigate the actual, real-life impacts this terrible law will have on residents in the ACT and surrounds and on the broader Australian public.

In the first instance, this not unusual. This is not an unusual step for the Australian Senate to take. It is not uncommon for decisions of state and territory governments to be examined, inquired into and reported on by the Australian Senate, so this is not an unusual step. The simple reality is that the ACT government, quite deliberately—this is a conscious decision—is about to unleash a potential impact that goes beyond its borders and thus requires national leadership. It is leadership that the Leader of the Opposition, Peter Dutton, and those of us in the Liberal Party and the National Party are prepared to show.

In two weeks, what does the ACT actually intend to do? From 28 October, among other things, a person in the ACT will be able to carry up to 1.5 grams of ice, 1.5 grams of cocaine or one gram of heroin without fear of any criminal conviction and without risk of anything more substantial than a small fine. People might say: 'Hold on. What does that actually mean?' Let me put this into a context that perhaps anyone listening in might actually understand. According to the US Department of Justice, one gram of heroin is up to five times the average lethal dose of heroin. The ACT government has already passed the legislation that is actually going to allow that to happen. This is meant to be for personal use. So the ACT government are saying, 'You can lawfully carry one gram of heroin,' but what they don't tell people is that, according to the US Department of Justice, that is up to five times the average lethal dose of heroin. For those who are in any doubt about that, 'lethal dose' means death. You die from taking this dose.

For police, the operational issues alone are diabolical. The police have put this on the record. There is no clarity for police as to whether these territory laws are consistent with Commonwealth legislation. What does that actually mean? It leaves the police choosing between potentially conflicting laws—that's great when you are dealing with a potentially lethal dose of heroin!—and potentially facing professional standards investigation for misconduct and failure to execute duties if they apply the wrong one. That's going to help the police, who just want to do their job! There is also no clarity—and this is where Senate scrutiny is required—on whether small quantities of drugs are mixed weight or pure weight. That has potentially a substantial impact. Is it one gram of pure heroin, or can I carry two grams and cut it down by 50 per cent? In any case, how are the police meant to tell this? Will they be walking around carrying scales and purity test kits? What is the actual result? The AFP Deputy Commissioner Gaughan said that when police see someone doing a line of coke:

… historically, they may have intervened; they are probably not going to now.

Fantastic work, isn't it? That's a great end result of the ACT government's legislation! As ACT Policing described, in a submission to the inquiry, the decriminalisation of drugs does not of itself allow individuals to be connected with a health-led response. There is a real concern that the health services just aren't there.

Let's again go back to what's going to happen in two weeks.