Ms BURNET (Clark) – Honourable Speaker, I want to talk about pill testing again. This weekend there is A Festival Called PANAMA. It is beginning tomorrow and it will see about 1500 people going to enjoy music and art from around Tasmania, and coming from around the world. To all of you who are going to A Festival Called PANAMA, I hope that you enjoy one of the most iconic Tasmanian music festivals.
I bring this up again after Party in the Paddock. I spoke on the same matter before that festival. Apart from PANAMA being on this weekend, last weekend in New South Wales a pill testing trial at the Yours and Owls Festival was described by the New South Wales Health minister as a success. That trial will continue for at least the next year. Congratulations to New South Wales and the New South Wales Labor government. I acknowledge in particular, Labor MP, Cameron Murphy, who has managed to turn his government’s position around on pill testing. I also acknowledge the work that Greens colleagues, including Cate Faehrmann and Jenny Leong in New South Wales have been doing to strongly call for pill testing for many years, as are many colleagues around the country.
Around 100 people used the service at the Yours and Owls Festival, which was run by New South Wales Health, and several chose to dispose of their drugs after having them checked. At Beyond the Valley festival in Victoria over 600 samples were checked. Some who had their pills checked made the decision after finding out that what was in their pills was not what they had thought. Nobody was told their drugs were completely safe, but they were empowered to make a choice. Importantly, every single one of them had a discussion with a health professional about harm minimisation so not only were they educated but they were empowered to make a decision about whether they should hold onto those pills or not.
As well as giving information to potential users, the results gathered at the pill-testing sites helps medical professionals understand which substances are in circulation. That is why doctors support it and why it is being trialled in mainland states all across the country and has been in place for almost 20 years elsewhere, Europe in particular. The Royal Australian College of GPS has said that up to 64 deaths could have been avoided since 2000. It is often young people but not always young people. It is so important to have that harm minimisation in place. The Greens sponsored the petition by the organisers of Party in the Paddock more than five years ago calling for the government to introduce such a scheme here. It is disappointing that no action has been taken. In fact, the Health minister continues to rule out even a trial. It does not include legislative change. It could be done with the stroke of the minister’s pen.
The law and order prohibition model of drug laws has been a failure. We know that people are going to choose to use drugs at these kinds of events. It is just part and parcel of the experience for some people. We can either choose to put in place an evidence-led preventative harm minimisation strategy or we can bury our heads in the sand and continue to see people hospitalised or worse when something goes horribly wrong. What a waste. The Greens will continue to prosecute this case. Criminalising a health issue is not the way to go. It is pure politics.
