BISHOP LASHES MPS ON DRUGS

The WA parliamentary system is corrupt and politicians should be allowed
conscience votes rather than being forced to follow party lines, says the
head of the Catholic Church in the South-West.

Bishop Gerard Holohan said the wishes of the electorate were not being
represented in Parliament because Government members were not permitted to
vote against the will of party powerbrokers.

Bishop Holohan's comments, in a letter distributed to Catholics throughout
the State at Easter, comes after debate in State Parliament over cannabis
control.

"The fact that Government members cannot follow their consciences in voting
on the Cannabis Law Reform Bill means that not all electorates are of equal
value," Bishop Holohan said.

"Electorates whose members would not otherwise vote for this Bill are
effectively disenfranchised.

"And while all electorates are not of equal value, there can never be one
vote one value. Is requiring parliamentarians to vote in particular ways
health for genuine democracy?"

The bishop said the cannabis Bill violated basic moral principles.

With other morally concerned people, Catholics should do all they could to
oppose a growing tolerance for drugs.

The Bill would not pass if Government members were free to vote according
to their consciences, he said.

The moral perspective on drugs and the harm cannabis was causing
individuals, families and society were not the major considerations for
those who controlled how Government members would vote on the
decriminalising of marijuana.

Bishop Holohan said many Catholics, as well as the wider community, had
deep concerns about the proposed law change which decriminalised the growth
of non-hydroponic marijuana plants and the posession of less than 30 grams
of cannabis.

The legislation would send the signal to young people that only drug
trafficking, not drug use, was wrong, he said.