I read with interest an article on Saturday by Crispin Hull, former editor of the Canberra Times, where he said the federal opposition were quite within their rights to introduce a bill to overturn the ACT Government’s dangerous decriminalisation of drugs act.

As Crispin is a good lawyer, I’ll take his word for it. However, such a bill is never going to pass given the attitude of the federal government, the Greens, and Senator David Pocock – not to mention local Liberal leader Elizabeth Lee’s opposition to it, as it infringes on the right of the territory to pass its own legislation – however stupid that legislation may be. 

Former Liberal Senator for the ACT Zed Seselja probably lost his seat solely because of not backing territory rights. 

However, there is another way. Section 109 of the Constitution states as follows: “When a law of a State is inconsistent with a law of the Commonwealth, the latter shall prevail, and the former shall, to the extent of the inconsistency, be invalid.”

Illicit drugs are a problem across Australia, and there are various Commonwealth laws already in relation to them. An omnibus federal law, setting what are trafficable quantities and what would be deemed possession for own use, could well be introduced, with standard penalties and other uniform provisions, to apply across Australia. If passed, this would supersede inconsistent state and territory laws, such as the ACT law. 

This would be a good approach, at any rate, and as Michaelia Cash’s valiant but futile attempt at overriding the new ACT drug laws will fail, perhaps she could look at what I have suggested. It would achieve the same political point the Coalition is trying to make; ensure local Liberal Party support, as it’s not just directed at the poor old ACT; and if it passes (probably after the 2024 federal election, if the Coalition wins), will help Australia as a whole, and not just the ACT, with national uniform legislation. Such an approach may even gain support in the more sensible Labor states.