YOUNG LIBS DEFY PM ON DRUG ROOMS

The Prime Minister has been rebuffed by the youth wing of his own party on
safe injecting rooms, with the Young Liberals' national convention
overwhelming rejecting any move by Canberra that would override the States
and territories.

The convention, in Surfers Paradise, also rebuked Mr Howard on same-sex
relationships, with a call to grant them legal defacto status supported by
almost all the 50 delegates.

Although the convention rejected motions supporting the concept of safe
injecting rooms and heroin prescription trials, the overwhelming sentiment
among delegates was that Mr Howard should leave drugs issues to the States
and territories.

NSW and the ACT have legislated for a safe-injecting-room trial, with
Victoria set to follow.

Mr Howard wrote to premiers and chief ministers last month issuing a thinly
veiled warning that Canberra might invoke external powers to override such
laws. Mr Howard said he could not ignore the possibility that the trials
breached Australia's obligations under international treaties.

At the same time, Mr Howard has ignored a warning by the Human Rights
Commissioner, Mr Chris Sidoti, that superannuation laws which discriminate
against same sex couples could contravene two international treaties.

The Victorian Premier, Mr Bracks, said Mr Howard was "picking and choosing"
the treaties with which he wanted to comply. He applauded the Young
Liberals' stand on injecting rooms and said Mr Howard was being told by his
own party to "keep out".

The motion, which was defeated resoundingly, called on Canberra to overturn
the ACT's injecting-room legislation.

It was opposed even by anti-trial delegates.

"I think we need to be very hesitant about interfering in the affairs of an
elected government," said Mr Mark Dale, the Young Liberals' outgoing
national president.

Debate on a separate motion supporting medically supervised injecting rooms
was defeated by a 2-1 margin after heated debate.

Mr Ben Franklin, the NSW Young Liberals' vice-president, said the party
needed to sympathise with addicts who had been unable to kick their habit.

"We are the Liberal Party and we should be concerned about all individuals,
not condemning some because they are different," Mr Franklin said.

But Mr Dale said the trials would send the wrong message about drugs. "Once
you legalise a practice in some way, you're saying drug use in some
circumstances has the Government's imprimatur and therefore
society's imprimatur."

On gay rights, the convention not only called for same-sex couples to be
given de facto status, but defeated a motion affirming opposition to such
couples having the same legal rights as heterosexual couples. The Australian
Council for Lesbian and Gay Rights applauded the moves, and said the
Government would be under renewed pressure to change superannuation and
other discriminatory laws.

The convention will today debate a motion supporting the establishment of a
monument in Canberra "in memorial to and recognition of the wholesale
destruction of Aboriginal communities in the wake of colonisation".