Pubdate: Sat, 27 May 2000
Source: Age, The (Australia)
Copyright: 2000 David Syme & Co Ltd
Contact:  250 Spencer Street, Melbourne, 3000, Australia
Website: http://www.theage.com.au/
Author: Ewin Hannan
Note: Ewin Hannan is state editor of The Age.

HOW POLITICS KILLED DRUG ROOMS

Inside the Bracks Government, there is growing acknowledgement that
Labor will fail in its bid to establish five supervised injecting
facilities for heroin users.

This week, Health Minister John Thwaites conceded a facility was
unlikely to be backed in Springvale. He is pessimistic about support
in Footscray, while Melbourne City Council is divided about a facility
operating in the CBD. Labor's best prospects remain with the cities of
Yarra and Port Phillip, with the highest level of local support for
facilities in St Kilda and Collingwood.

That said, government hardheads can't be confident even one of the
facilities will get the green light. With a coalition of vested
interests intent on torpedoing the proposal, the smart money is on
defeat.

A number of public meetings on the issues have degenerated into
unedifying spectacles. At a recent City of Greater Dandenong public
forum, hecklers were given free rein during a speech by Dr David
Penington, the head of the government's drug policy expert committee.

Penington has been frustrated at how opponents have been allowed to
hijack these proceedings, given the consultation process still has
months to run. However, his assertion this week that the rowdy public
meetings show that society is in denial about the drugs crisis did
little to help the pro-facility cause.

While he is correct to say that people often choose to ignore the
facts or point the blame elsewhere in the drugs debate, Penington can
give the impression he thinks he has a monopoly on wisdom. His evident
fondness for condescension gives ammunition to his opponents. They are
quick to portray him as a lofty academic, lecturing from his "ivory
tower" oblivious to the views of "real people".

If Labor is serious about getting the proposal up, government
strategists would be advised to have a quiet word to Penington that
the hard sell should be largely left to others.

Premier Steve Bracks, Thwaites and local Labor MPs should be prepared
to step up their public advocacy roles. While they were right to
authorise a local consultation process, Bracks and Thwaites need to
exploit their current high standing with voters and forcefully push
the government's position.

Admittedly, this shapes up as a high-wire act for Labor. Thwaites says
adopting a highly interventionist approach will generate an adverse
reaction from local councillors who would resent the heavy hand of
Spring Street. He points to allegations by local Liberals in Greater
Dandenong that Labor councillors have been pressured by state Labor
MPs.

Conversely, appearing to be more hands-off risks helping facility
opponents.

For example, Liberal MPs claim Bracks and Thwaites are not genuinely
interested in getting the proposal up. Senior Liberals argue Labor put
up the idea in opposition not expecting to win office. Now, Liberals
claim the ALP Government hopes the conservatives will vote it down,
before telling voters it should get kudos for trying.

Thwaites says these claims are ridiculous. Indeed, it is a bit much
coming from this opposition, which has spent the past seven months
telling voters that the Bracks Government is a do-nothing
administration. But when Labor does pursue a radical policy
prescription, the Liberals want you to believe Labor is not only not
genuine, but highly cynical and manipulative.

The fact is the Liberals could just as easily be accused of looking
for an escape. Struggling to make an impact in opposition, many
Liberals seem unprepared to risk the potential backlash associated
with them allowing the legislation through the upper house.

For the family and friends of young people dying on our streets, the
debate appears to be heading towards a pretty miserable conclusion.
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake