LOCAL VOTE URGED ON INJECTING FACILITIES

People living or working near the site of a proposed supervised
injecting facility should be given a direct vote on whether it
proceeded, deputy Lord Mayor Clem Newton-Brown said yesterday.

Cr Newton-Brown said public meetings were limited in their capacity to
reflect public views on the State Government's proposal to try
injecting facilities.

"We can't purport to represent those who would be affected in the
immediate vicinity," he said. "Those directly affected must be
directly questioned on their views."

Cr Newton-Brown said he had not decided how the "immediate vicinity"
would be defined, but he said he could not see how anyone could object
to a direct vote on the issue.

"I would be pretty annoyed if I was a ratepayer and I was not
consulted," he said. "They may not have thought they would be affected
by it and they may not have put in a submission to council."

Health Minister John Thwaites said he believed councils were
responsive to their communities, and were elected to make decisions.
"Why elect local councils if they can't represent local communities on
issues such as this?" he said.

"What is it that Cr Newton-Brown is saying, that we should have a
plebiscite on every issue? It appears some people are playing politics
with this and are looking at every excuse to oppose it while people
continue to die on our streets."

Cr Newton-Brown said he was not pre-empting a decision on the issue -
the Melbourne City Council called for public submissions last week -
but a local poll ought to follow the selection of a location.

A spokesman for the city group Residents 3000, Peter Faris, QC,
supported the suggestion, saying that by selecting Labor-dominated
councils for the trial, the government had ensured local people "don't
get a look-in".

"I would support a poll, but it would need to be very carefully
thought through as to the geographic location," he said.