LIBERAL ANGER ON DRUGS

Victoria's chief drugs adviser, David Penington, said yesterday that
public opinion was mounting in favor of supervised injecting rooms, as
debate raged over the call by Sir Rupert Hamer for the opposition to
back the government's strategy.

Dr Penington said Sir Rupert's public call to Liberal MPs was a
significant moment in the debate and that he was optimistic that
Liberal MPs would now be forced to examine the evidence in favor of
the controversial injecting facilities.

But the call received an initially cool reception from opposition MPs,
with some expressing anger over Sir Rupert's intervention and
resistance to the plans.

The Prime Minister's chief drug adviser, Brian Watters, whose
conservative approach was criticised by Sir Rupert, also hit back,
urging the former Liberal premier to stay out of the debate.

"He's obviously entitled to his personal opinion, but the fact that a
person has been or is today eminent in some field of endeavor doesn't
necessarily mean that they're expert or well informed in this
particular area," Major Watters said.

In comments reported in The Age yesterday, Sir Rupert said it would be
unacceptable for the Liberal Party, which controls the upper house of
state parliament, to deny support for a trial of the injecting
facilities because the heroin problem was getting worse.

Sir Rupert argued that the American prohibition experiment had proved
an abject failure, and said Major Watters' "narrow view" - that
injecting facilities would send the wrong message - was not shared by
his Salvation Army colleagues.

"He's quite wrong," Major Watters said yesterday. "I have very strong
support within the Salvation Army across Australia, particularly in my
own region."

The Salvation Army in Victoria, however, has taken a neutral stance on
the issue. Major Watters recently retired, but remains head of the
Australian National Council on Drugs.

"The majority of Australians don't agree with these approaches which
almost amount to surrender. I've looked at the thing deeply and I
think people like Sir Rupert ought to be careful about bandying the
word compassion as if it belongs to one side of this debate," he said.

"There are people like me who have given their life to trying to do
something about this problem. It's not lack of compassion, it's a
belief that in fact what's being offered as a cure will worsen the
complaint. Real compassion consists of helping people to become
drug-free, not enabling them to remain addicted."

Dr Penington said Sir Rupert's "strong and forceful" remarks should
force a serious rethink by Liberal MPs. "There are an awful lot of
members of the political party who did not want to look at the
evidence ... and who have just assumed that everybody was against it,"
Dr Penington said.

"But public opinion is moving to the extent that it's increasingly
evident that this community realises it has a serious problem on its
hands. I hope this will help bring the opposition simply to support a
trial."

But Liberal MPs yesterday joined Opposition Leader Denis Napthine in
criticising Sir Rupert's decision to publicly back the trial without
first consulting the party.

Deputy leader Louise Asher said that although she had "a huge amount
of respect" for Sir Rupert, "it would have been better if he had
phoned Denis Napthine first".

Liberal health spokesman Robert Doyle questioned the value of Sir
Rupert's contribution, saying some of his claims were "slightly
puzzling", including his contention that heroin deaths exceeded the
road toll.

Several MPs said they did not attach any particular importance to his
views. One senior Liberal said that although Sir Rupert was a "revered
person", the party room would make its own decision.

Veteran Liberal MP Robin Cooper said Sir Rupert's opinions would be
given "due credence", but he was just a private citizen. In an
apparent reference to former premier Jeff Kennett's public silence on
the issue, Mr Cooper said "some ex-premiers like to be ex, some like
to be in the limelight".

Another senior MP said: "If an elder statesman does not even consult
with the current parliamentary team on this major issue of concern,
then obviously they cannot expect us to give their views much credence."

Liberal Eltham MP Wayne Phillips said Sir Rupert was entitled to
express his views but "there's a view that ex-leaders should probably
leave it to the new leader and their team to consult with the wider
rank and file without getting involved themselves".

Sir Rupert was unrepentant yesterday, saying his comments were made as
a private citizen. He said evidence from Switzerland and Germany
indicated injecting rooms helped reduce deaths from overdoses, cut
drug-related crime and doubled the number of users receiving treatment.

"Mere pursuit and punishment is not by itself enough. It has got to be
part of an overall policy including bringing help to the actual people
concerned: drug addicts and their families," he said.

Premier Steve Bracks praised Sir Rupert for his stance, saying his
comments were "timely", and that he hoped Liberal MPs would consider
them very carefully.