LIBS THREATEN TO VETO INJECTING ROOMS

The State Opposition yesterday warned Liberal MPs were likely to kill
off Labor's plan for supervised injecting rooms unless the State
Government and local councils met new conditions.

Opposition health spokesman Robert Doyle said ALP councils in the
cities of Yarra and Port Phillip should conduct plebiscites of
residents on the issue.

Claiming the councils had "stage-managed" support for the plan, he
said the Liberal Party wanted the plebiscites conducted before State
Parliament voted on the issue in August.

Mr Doyle also repeated Opposition demands that the government and the
councils identify the proposed site locations for the centres before
August.

He said Labor should also detail the precise parameters for the
18-month trial by setting out how the centres were to judged a success
or failure.

Mr Doyle said the Opposition would find it difficult to give
in-principle support for the centres if this information was not provided.

But Premier Steve Bracks and the Port Phillip and Yarra mayors
rejected the call for local plebiscites and accused the Opposition of
playing politics with the issue.

Mr Bracks said Mr Doyle was trying to "stir up trouble" over the
controversial centres, and challenged the Opposition to declare its
position on the issue.

"I regret the fact that they're trying to play politics with this," he
said. "If that's the case they should just come out now and say that
they're against it, otherwise, they should be looking at this properly
and independently without trying to stir up a political issue on the
matter."

Mr Bracks joined Port Phillip Mayor Julian Hill and Yarra Mayor John
Phillips in rejecting Mr Doyle's proposal for a local plebiscite on
injecting rooms.

The Premier said the councils were best-placed to determine the level
of local support.

Cr Phillips said the City of Yarra had been consulting with residents
on the issue for four years, and in the past year had conducted 13
community meetings. He said it was absurd for the Opposition to demand
details of possible sites before any parliamentary vote because
councils needed to know whether or not such centres would be supported
before going to the effort and expense of selecting locations.

Cr Hill dismissed the proposal for a plebiscite as a "totally
ridiculous suggestion", with surveys conducted by the council in the
past six months indicating growing community support for injecting
rooms.

He said it was hypocritical of the Opposition to be suggesting a
plebiscite because when they were in government they ignored a
ratepayers' petition calling for a plebiscite over the boundaries of
amalgamated councils in the same area.

Cr Hill said it was wrong-headed to identify possible sites before
getting in-principle approval for an injecting rooms trial.

He said the council was following the process recommended by drug
policy expert Dr David Penington, the point of which was to "decide
whether it is a good idea to try it then to decide how to try it
before going into the detail of where to try it".

He said Mr Doyle either "doesn't understand the process or is
deliberately trying to muddle it".