THE WORDS WHICH TILTED A PREMIER

WHEN Premier Bob Carr sat down to eat his lunch at his Parliament
House desk on Thursday he knew the decision he was about to make had
the potential to cement his place in NSW political history.

It was day four of the Government's Drug Summit and an emotionally
drained Premier had to decide whether he would support a
recommendation to consider introducing safe injecting rooms.

All week Mr Carr had summoned senior Government ministers to his
spacious eighth floor office to debate how the vexed issue should be
handled.

Given Mr Carr's outspoken opposition in 1997 to Police Royal
Commissioner Justice James Wood's recommendation to consider an
injecting room trial, any shift in his position would be perceived as
significant.

Senior Government sources said Mr Carr had "waxed and waned" all week
about the possibility of safe injecting rooms in Sydney and other drug
reforms.

"He ran hot and cold," one Government insider said.

"He was agonising 96 that was obvious 96 but there was a very obvious
willingness to look at all the issues and a significant indication
that his views had softened."

Special Minister of State John Della Bosca acted as the main conduit
between delegates, MPs and the Premier relaying shifts in opinion and
the mood of the summit to Mr Carr.

A political pragmatist, Mr Della Bosca was instrumental in formulating
the vague and loophole-ridden safe injecting rooms resolution
ultimately put to the summit.

Written in the negative, the resolution states: "The Government should
not veto proposals from non-government organisations for a tightly
controlled trial of medically supervised injecting rooms in defined
areas . . ."

Newly-installed Health Minister Craig Knowles argued persuasively that
there was a legitimate health argument for injecting rooms.

The conga line of ministers and advisers to Mr Carr's office continued
right up until Thursday night. The Premier also sought the advice of
his trusted Chief of Staff Kris Neill and drug policy adviser Leigh
McLaughlin.

But ironically, it was former commissioner Wood, now a senior Supreme
Court judge who cemented the Premier's opinion.

Invited as a delegate to the Drug Summit, Justice Wood loomed as a
reserved and aloof figure with delegates reacting to him with a
mixture of reverence and fear.

Just after 2pm on Thursday, Justice Wood rose to give his first speech
of the summit and the effect of his words could not have been more
powerful.

"Unless you've been there you cannot legitimately claim to know the
problem; unless we trial the options none of us can know the answers,"
Justice Wood told delegates.

"We can continue on our path of destruction of individuals and
families and a waste of economic resources or we can seriously
consider the options that are available to us today."

His words resonated with the Premier who was sitting in his office
watching proceedings on Parliament's internal television system.

Mr Carr would later say that Justice Wood's speech was a "turning
point" given the call for reform was "not from a weak left liberal".

Mr Carr was also understood to have been "impressed" by Liberal Upper
House MP John Ryan who publicly backed safe injecting rooms when his
leader Kerry Chikarovksi had opposed them.

"To him [Mr Carr], the actions of someone like John Ryan symbolised
what the week was about," one insider said.

Just after 8pm ,with handwritten notes and "half an idea" about what
he would say, Mr Carr rode the lift down to the Legislative Council
chamber to deliver the speech that would effectively seal the fate of
drug reform.

"This is a matter that's got to be faced up to," Mr Carr told the
chamber. "If there are activities taking place in the parks and in the
back lanes that the community wants to deal with in a better fashion,
then we'll explore the option you've put to us for dealing with it in
a better fashion."

Government insiders last night expressed mixed reactions about the
results of the summit.

"If injecting rooms are the go the Premier can say it was the will of
the community and the summit," one Labor MP said.

"If they succeed, then he is a genuine reformer."