Firstly, congratulations to the PM for taking steps to ensure social media trolls who defame others with impunity can now be exposed and subject to defamation as a result. By doing so he also shows squillionaires like Mark Zuckerberg that no one is above the law.
Speaking of the law, Why is it that Green and left-wing Labor members always seem to want to make Canberra a social experiment?
Despite the Federal Police Commissioner aggressively opposing left faction Labor backbencher Michael Pettersson’s dangerous drug decriminalisation bill and going so far as to warn that Canberra will be a magnet for drug dealers of all shapes and sizes to the extent that we risk becoming the “narco capital of Australia”, the bill will proceed. Under this bill, a person in possession of 10 hits of ice will only be subject to a $100 fine – that’s three times less than you get for driving at 46 kmph through the Civic 40 kmph zone. Police have said 10 hits of ice is enough to send the average user on a two-to-three-day bender.
In recent months, we have seen well-liked and respected Canberra sportsman Dick Cater murdered in an ice-fuelled attack by a man with a knife who seriously injured three others at the same time. We have also seen four people killed in Darwin by a gunman high on ice.
The bill deletes the current maximum fine of 50 penalty units and/or two years imprisonment and replaces it with an infringement notice for $100. There is nothing in the current bill about rehabilitation programs and/or educational campaigns to help stop young people from using illicit drugs in the first place. All the bill does as it currently stands is to reduce the penalty to a $100 on-the-spot fine. Talk about encouraging young people to take up drug use and encouraging dealers to flock to the ACT to reap more ill-gotten gains from local victims.
There are several petitions against this bill doing the rounds encouraging the Assembly to vote against the bill and to do more for rehabilitation and educating potential users. Some of the feedback being given to volunteers in Tuggeranong, who were out and about with a petition against the bill last week, included that of a health worker who said she had seen how drug-fuelled domestic violence affected children and families, a drug rehab worker who said she sees the effect of drugs every day and pleaded for the possession of hard drugs not to be decriminalised, and some law enforcement officers who commended the guys getting signatures. Some people didn’t even know there was a bill before the Assembly in the first place.
I would suggest that anyone concerned about this legislation write to the five elected MLAs in your electorate (representing all parties in the Assembly) and tell them your thoughts and concerns. The more people who do this, the more chance there is (hopefully) of common-sense prevailing
Editor’s note: The opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Canberra Daily.
Get all the latest Canberra news, sport, entertainment, lifestyle, competitions and more delivered straight to your inbox with the Canberra Daily Daily Newsletter. Sign up here.
