BAILLIEU URGED TO DRUG TEST SCHOOL STUDENTS

LIBERAL leader Ted Baillieu is being urged to introduce drug testing
in secondary schools if he wins November's state election.

The Liberals' state council meeting this weekend will debate a
resolution calling on a Baillieu government to order government
schools to conduct "health tests" to detect whether students are using drugs.

The South Yarra branch of the party, which will move the resolution,
has circulated a supporting statement to delegates which says: "The
use of illicit drugs is escalating to the extent that we must do
more to detect its early use, because many parents are the last
to know their child is rapidly becoming addicted to drugs." The
branch says abuse of illicit drugs leads to hundreds of deaths and
costs the Federal Government about $6.1 billion a year. It cites
federal Health Department research showing that 36 per cent of 12
to 17-year-olds surveyed had used cannabis, "a drug that leads to
the use of harder drugs such as ecstasy, speed, LSD, heroin and cocaine".

Saturday's council meeting will also debate a potentially
contentious resolution calling for the tenure of judges to be
reviewed every seven years.

The Numurkah branch will tell delegates that sentences are often
shorter than the community wants, and it is time members of the
judiciary were "brought to account".

"A review panel, representative of our society, is suggested as one
way of ensuring sentencing approaches match community expectations," it says.

Other resolutions scheduled for debate include calls for a Baillieu
government to:

!Make big cuts to land tax, because "this tax which used to be a
minor impost is today a major overhead".

!Reduce stamp duty charges on the purchase of the principal family
home, because "every other state has lower stamp duty taxes" and
"owning a house allows financial security and reduces dependency on
welfare later in life".

!Install flashing lights or boom gates at every rail crossing in the
state over the course of its first four-term term in office.

!Install flashing electronic variable speed limit signs outside schools.

!Instruct the state Education Department to set up a central
counselling service for primary students who refuse to go to school,
because "children with learning difficulties who begin to hate school
need special support after five days of not attending".

!Encourage better driving by reducing the provisional licence period
by 12 months for young people who complete a defensive driving course.

!Boost funding to Victorian parks, in contrast to the Bracks
Government's "miserly" attitude.

The council meeting, the last before the November 25 election, will
hear speeches from Mr Baillieu and the most senior federal Liberal
from Victoria, Treasurer Peter Costello.