Pubdate: Sat, 29 Apr 2000
Source: Sydney Morning Herald (Australia)
Copyright: 2000 The Sydney Morning Herald
Contact:  GPO Box 3771, Sydney NSW 2001
Fax: +61-(0)2-9282 3492
Website: http://www.smh.com.au/
Forum: http://forums.fairfax.com.au/
Author: Paola Totaro

OLYMPICS TO SET BACK INJECTING ROOM

The nation's first legal heroin injecting room is now unlikely to open its
doors before the Olympics as the Uniting Church battles to harness community
support for the project.

Despite months of consultation with local businesses and residents, the
church has been unable to dampen opposition to the 66 Darlinghurst Road site
from the Kings Cross Chamber of Commerce.

The chamber, led by Mr Malcolm Duncan, a Sydney barrister and failed
candidate for the seat of Bligh, has threatened to take action in the
Supreme Court, citing the legal requirement for community "acceptance" as
the basis for a challenge.

Mr Duncan, who said yesterday he spoke for several organisations - including
the 2011 residents group, the Licensing Court and the Chamber of Commerce -
insisted most were opposed to the site, not the trial per se.

"We believe the centre should be operated from the Kirketon Road [medical
and needle exchange] Centre ... there are four other sites we believe are
suitable," he said. "Where? Never you mind, that is commercially sensitive
for now."

The chamber's vocal opposition to the site has forced the Uniting Church
into a last-minute rush to gather written statements of support from as many
local authorities, residents and politicians as it can before lodging its
formal application for the operator's licence.

It also means the Police Commissioner, Mr Peter Ryan, and the Health
Department chief, Mr Mick Reid, will now be forced to use their
discretionary power on the licence decision, as it is increasingly unlikely
the chamber will change its stance.

Senior sources said yesterday they expected the Uniting Church would lodge
its application in the coming four weeks.

The Government must then consider and approve the licence before building on
the site - expected to take at least six to eight weeks - can begin.

Senior government and church officials agreed this timetable would push the
opening date too close to the Olympics, meaning the trial would be more
likely to begin after the Games.

The injecting room experiment, approved by the NSW Drug Summit nearly 12
months ago, was scheduled to be operating under the auspices of the Sisters
of Charity by the beginning of this year.

However, the project has suffered several setbacks, which began when the
Vatican intervened and the Sisters were forced to withdraw from the trial.

The Uniting Church also struggled to find a suitable site - or willing
landlords - for the injecting room. The Government has said the site must
meet strict criteria, including ground-level entry, easy ambulance access
and proximity to Springfield Mall.

The projected operating budget for the trial has also blown out in the wake
of delays, rising from the Sisters of Charity's original quote of about
$800,000 for the one-year trial to more than $1.2 million.

The delays in NSW come at the same time as the Victorian Government, led by
its Labor Premier, Mr Bracks, conceded that parliamentary support for a
trial of five injecting rooms in Melbourne was dwindling and could require a
new "compromise".

But, according to a spokesman for the NSW Special Minister of State, Mr
Della Bosca, NSW remained in a better position to pursue the trials, despite
the delays, since it had already passed its legislation and "we're well on
the way".
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