Wednesday, 8 March 2023

 Renee HEATH (Eastern Victoria) (18:09): (85) My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Mental Health, and the action that I seek is that the minister commits that drug-injecting rooms will not be opened next to primary schools in the Eastern Victoria Region. I have been appalled at the handling of the North Richmond injecting room site and the situation and how it has been handled by the Andrews Labor government. The decision to deliberately withhold an independent report into the North Richmond site from local parents until after the election was a disgusting display of neglect and complete disregard for the community and its families. I cannot believe that this government could ignore the concerns of a resident that in this report noted that she witnessed fights, drug deals and drug use while walking her daughter to school every morning.

Months of keeping parents in the dark over whether their children will be safe in and around their school is simply shameful. It raises the question: what is an appropriate site? Should an injecting room be near a primary school? Should it be next to a women’s shelter? Maybe a church or a mosque? How do you think the people in the Richmond West Primary School community felt when they found out there was going to be a drug-injecting room directly next to their child’s primary school, and how do you think they feel now when they realise that it is here to stay?

Lives matter. It does not matter whether it is the life of a primary school student or an individual suffering from drug addiction, we need to make decisions that are in the best interests of the safety of our communities. Now, this will seem so obvious, but schools and drugs should not go together. We need to make these decisions to make sure that addicts have the best chance of recovery and school students have the best chance of safety. Children need to be safe, and drug addicts need every chance to recover.