MPS DECIDE TO VETO SHOOTING GALLERIES TRIAL

Trials of safe injecting rooms for intravenous drug users have been
effectively quashed after a NSW parliamentary committee voted against the
proposal yesterday.

Coalition and right-wing Government members of the Joint Select Committee
on Safe Injecting Rooms combined to reject the trial by six votes to four,
with the two Independent and two ALP Left members dissenting.

One of the Independents, Mr Ian Cohen, said that in NSW one death from
overdose occurred each day.

"The Government is more interested in the politics of the next election
than it is in saving lives in NSW and I consider that to be a terrible
tragedy," he said.

The other Independent committee member, Ms Clover Moore, was particularly
critical of the Labor Member for Cabramatta, Ms Reba Meagher, who put the
rejection recommendation to the committee with the support of National and
Liberal Party members.

Ms Moore said the proposal was "not being adopted by the Government or the
Opposition because they are too gutless".

Ms Meagher said the committee decided to reject the trial because of safety
concerns, the potential adverse impact on local communities and the
possibility of creating drug ghettos.

She said there was considerable concern that so-called "shooting galleries"
would create a honeypot effect, attracting criminals and causing an
increase in property crime. Establishing shooting galleries was also
inconsistent with zero-tolerance policing, particularly in Cabramatta.

"Across the political parties there was a point of view that this was an
inappropriate medical trial," she said.

Another committee member, the Liberal MLC Mr John Jobling, said the
Government would be better off allocating the money to drug rehabilitation
and treatment programs.

The committee's recommendation was not surprising considering statements
made by politicians on both sides in the past. Shortly after the committee
was established on the recommendation of the Wood Royal Commission, the
Premier, Mr Carr, said that bipartisan support would be required for the
trials to proceed, and the Opposition was not prepared to pledge that
support.

The Leader of the Opposition, Mr Collins, said the Coalition was against
the proposal.

The committee's report will be released tomorrow. The committee spent
$150,000, including a study tour by three members - Labor MLC Pat Staunton,
who later resigned, Mr Jobling and Mr Cohen - including visits to Zurich
and Amsterdam.

The six members who voted against the trial were Labor parliamentarians
Reba Meagher, George Thompson and Dorothy Isaaksen; Liberals Malcolm Kerr
and John Jobling; and the National Party's Mr Bill Rixon.

The four who voted in favour of the trial were Labor members Ann Symonds
and John Mills, and Independents Clover Moore and Ian Cohen.

There were 550 heroin overdose deaths in 1995, approximately half of them
in NSW.