Wednesday, 8 March 2023

Department of Health

Review of the Medically Supervised Injecting Room

Evan MULHOLLAND (Northern Metropolitan) (17:25): I also wish to speak, as my colleague Ms Crozier did, on the report by Mr Ryan on the safe injecting room in Richmond. It is an area that I have been following quite closely, as I represent the electorate of Richmond as part of my Northern Metropolitan electorate. The government seems to be using the final report of the review into the medically supervised injecting room as a clean bill of health as to all aspects of this injecting room. This review specifically moved the biggest problem from the terms of reference: its location. It is like reviewing the effectiveness of Victoria’s hotel quarantine system but removing completely the use of private security guards from that review. That is basically what they have done here.

Did anyone from this review or the government speak to any of the traders on Victoria Street before making this decision? Perhaps they want to speak to Ha Nguyen, a trader on Victoria Street and the head of the traders association, about his experience with the medically supervised injecting room. The Liberals and Nationals once again condemn this government for its unwillingness to listen and consider the views of local residents and their legitimate concerns. They have snubbed the community and continue to treat the community like mugs. They have also left CBD residents hanging over whether they will get an injecting room. Now, I know other colleagues, like Ms Ratnam, speak to the same residents groups in the CBD that I speak to. They do not agree with me on every issue, I will admit, but one thing they do agree with me on is that they are very concerned about an injecting room in the CBD.

I am not necessarily against an injecting room, but it is clearly in the wrong location, and you have to ask why. Why hasn’t the government researched this properly and why hasn’t it worked effectively? Sydney, for example, just does not have these debates around an injecting room. I note some of the biggest advocates for the injecting room are not the biggest fans of the Catholic Church, the biggest faith, but it was actually the Sisters of Charity in Australia that worked to set up a safe injecting room for intravenous drug users in Sydney in 1999. They did the research and operationalised the Kings Cross facility, which is now run by the Uniting Church. There was a lot of flak for the sisters at the time, and I have always found this quote by Sister Annette Cunliffe quite stark:

They said it was cooperation with evil and, I mean, it is … But there are times when you have to consider the person rather than the sin.

She said an injecting room was in alignment with their charism of service for the poor. The Kings Cross injecting room is their legacy, and there is no debate about the injecting room up in Sydney.

Let us remember that, unlike Kings Cross, our injecting room is located just 50 steps away from Richmond West Primary School. Some in this place may seek to turn a blind eye to or omit it from the terms of reference, pretending to forget the obvious and ongoing failure of judgement, but the residents of Richmond certainly have not forgotten – parents, traders. There are ongoing issues with the injecting room. Many have spoken to me about it; many have raised their concerns publicly about it. I will just go through a couple. In 2021, three years after this trial began, a community meeting of over 100 residents and anxious parents of the school were asked if their child had found a needle at the school. Half of them raised their arms. An organiser of the concerned group, Jo Murray, said that her:

… 10-year-old son can walk down the street saying ‘that one’s taken ice, that one’s taken heroin because he’s sleepy, that one’s got his shirt off because … he’s taken ice’.

Kids just should not be exposed to this kind of thing. I note the government just does not seem to have taken the consultation steps necessary to get past this issue. As I said, I am not necessarily against the injecting room, but it is in the wrong place.

There are several other examples I could go through. The Minister for Education admitted that the Richmond West Primary School has increased security. It is a clear admission by the government that it is not an acceptable environment and it is an unsafe environment. The report details local residents who are saying they feel intimidated just trying to access maternal health and child health services, which are actually co-located as well with this injecting room. The only businesses that seem to be supportive are those who operate a local illegal drug market, which seems to be thriving on our local streets.