EXCLUSIVE Andrew Clennell
State Political Editor
The Daily Telegraph
February 15 2016
LABOR’S rookie inner west MP has called for sniffer dogs to be banned and illegal party drugs to actually be tested at music festivals to ensure they were safe for young people to take.
“Kids smoking pot or taking pills at music festivals won’t go away,” Summer Hill MP Jo Haylen said in her speech to colleagues at Labor’s state conference.
“Rather than ruining lives with a criminal record or, worse still, leaving people to take risks on their own, let’s be brave.
“Let’s introduce amnesty bins and pill testing at festivals so we’re not putting people at risk.
“Let’s retire sniffer dogs so we’re not unnecessarily targeting vulnerable people on our streets.
“Let’s decriminalise the possession and use of drugs and get the debate back on track — let’s get drug users out of cop cars and into the health system.”
Ms Haylen gave the speech late on Saturday, hijacking a health committee debate which colleagues felt should have been focused on the gap in health funding Premier Mike Baird wants funded through an increase in the GST. Ms Haylen said it was time to “put Labor at the vanguard again”, just as when former Premier Bob Carr introduced a medically supervised injecting room at Kings Cross.
She also criticised the Baird government’s increase in roadside drug testing.
“Labor understands that you don’t fix a flood with a hammer,” Ms Haylen said.
“The Baird government’s heavy handed approach doesn’t fix the problem. “Sniffer dogs are ineffective — they’re wrong three quarters of the time, causing unnecessary interactions between police and young people. “Likewise the intensified pressure of police at music festivals and events doesn’t stop young people taking drugs — it just encourages them to take all their drugs to avoid arrest.
“Roadside drug testing hurls people into the legal system for having the most minute traces if drugs in their system, but operates without a shred of evidence to prove it reduces the number of accidents.”
Ms Haylen said in her speech Premier Mike Baird and his deputy Troy Grant should “stop targeting kids, and poor people, LBTIQ people and the vulnerable.
“They (should) use their resources to target drug dealers and manufacturers to stop the flow of illicit drugs on our streets.”
The motion put by Ms Haylen, a member of the Left, to review the sniffer dog drug detection program, introduce pill testing at festivals and hold a parliamentary inquiry into drugs was defeated by the Right at conference and was not permitted to go to a vote.
Ms Haylen said yesterday that she did not intend to take her proposals to caucus, they were her personal views and reflected the views of her electorate.
Labor’s health spokesman Walt Secord said: “Her speech diverged sharply from ALP policy.
“I would have preferred to have debated the more than $20.1 billion in health cuts by the Turnbull and Baird governments.”
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