MOORE PUSHES AHEAD ON INJECTING ROOM

Greens call for delay, urge more community consultation

ACT Health Minister Michael Moore has rejected a call from the Greens'
Kerrie Tucker to delay debate on a safe injecting room, saying he plans to
take the issue to the Assembly next month.

But he has agreed to Ms Tucker's request for a community forum on the issue
and said he would hold a forum before the Assembly debate.

Mr Moore plans a safe injecting room in Civic, where drug addicts can
inject in the presence of medical staff, with clean needles, counselling
and support.

Ms Tucker wants a decision put off till after the Government has developed
a new drugs strategy, now being prepared.

But Mr Moore said there had already been "a huge amount of consultation".

"I don't want to get caught up in the trap of endless consultation, endless
committees and endless process when people are suffering," he said.

"We all know the advantages of a safe injecting room, we all know that it's
politically difficult, but we also know that the decision has to be made."

The last ACT drugs strategy expired in 1997 and an evaluation, with
suggestions for the future, is due soon.

Ms Tucker said Mr Moore had alienated his Assembly colleagues by springing
his plan on the community without proper consultation.

"The politicians have all just gone into their corners because this
proposal was imposed from nowhere, with inadequate notice and not in the
context of a broader discussion about drugs," she said.

"We need to involve the community to find, where possible, consensus.
Because if there's one thing everyone agrees on it's that drugs are a
growing problem in our community."

Ms Tucker said she supported a safe injecting room in principle, but in an
environment of limited funding, the territory needed to consider whether it
was the best use of resources.

Mr Moore said he would start organising a community forum immediately, but
even that would never satisfy "the moralists and those who for political
reasons are implacably opposed".

There was no need to wait for the new drugs strategy which would include a
safe injecting room, in line with a harm-minimisation approach and as
recommended by the Sexual Health and Blood Borne Diseases Advisory
Committee last year.

Ms Tucker said she was surprised and disappointed at Mr Moore's response.
By pushing ahead he ran the risk of losing the Assembly's support.

"Mr Moore is only going to further alienate those members of the community
who have expressed concern about the safe injecting room if he continues in
an arrogant manner the pursuit of his particular view," she said.

The Assembly is divided over a safe injecting room. The Liberals are
allowing a conscience vote, with three of them opposed, leaving Mr Moore
relying on Labor. Labor's support has been heavily qualified.