LATE MEDIA ON DARWIN DRUG LAW REFORM PARLIAMENT INVADERS CASE

Barbara McCarthy: The Darwin Magistrates Court has been a centre of
attention this week for journalists and camera crews.

They've witnessed a parade of NT politicians, including Government
ministers, who've been subpoenaed to give evidence in a long-running trial
of five protesters who invaded the debating chamber in Parliament House
last year.

The protesters managed to shut down the Parliament for several minutes
before security guards removed them.

They've pleaded not guilty to disturbing Parliament while it was in session.

They were opposing the Labor Government's tough new drug laws which enable
police to put warning signs on premises where they suspect drugs are being
used or sold.

The Government says the laws recognise the link between drug abuse and
property crimes.

Murray McLaughlin reports.

Murray McLaughlin, Stateline Reporter: Meet Darwin's public enemy number one.

Gary Meyerhoff leads a ragtag bunch called Network Against Prohibition --
known as NAP -- committed to protesting against the NT's new drug laws.

The Government says the laws were an election promise, that the previous
CLP Government didn't recognise the problem of drugs.

Clare Martin, NT Chief Minister: This package is about Government
recognising the problem, it's recognising the link between drugs and
property crime, up to 50 per cent of property crime linked to illicit drug use.

It's about putting in place a package to deal with it.

Murray McLaughlin: The new drug laws had been flagged on the first day of
the new parliament after Labor's election 18 months ago.

Parliament gave police the powers to slap signs on premises if they find
drugs there on three occasions, and thereafter to search the premises
without a warrant.

Last May, on the eve of debate of the drugs laws, Gary Meyerhoff and his
cohorts from NAP stormed the Parliament chamber in Darwin while it was in
session.

Placards were held aloft.

Slogans were shouted.

Chaos reigned for several minutes till the invaders were dragged out.

They're now before the Magistrates Court on charges of disturbing
Parliament, liable for gaol up to three years.

Gary Meyerhoff, Network Against Prohibition: We barge in and we're as
surprised as the politicians are because we thought the door would be
locked so we never actually thought we'd get in there.

Murray McLaughlin: NAP members had tangled with the police before their
invasion of Parliament.

A rally in Darwin's CBD turned ugly last April although Meyerhoff's arrest
for loitering was later deemed illegal by the Ombudsman.

Since then, police have not so much thrown the book as crushed them with
the whole library.

Over 100 charges have been laid against 15 members over the past year.

As for police enforcement of the new drug laws -- there's been only one
place in Darwin declared a drug house -- a government housing unit occupied
by a 54-year-old grandmother.

Police found about 400 grams of cannabis here on three visits before they
arrived with a panoply of officials and news media to witness the
declaration two months ago.

Murray McLaughlin: It also cost Margot Laughton an eviction notice from her
government unit.

Paul Henderson, NT Police Minister: It goes to show that Government will
not play favourites in any of this.

It doesn't matter if you're dealing drugs out of private accommodation or
public's housing, you will be dealt with in exactly the same manner.

Margot Laughton, Drug House Tenant: I'm just an aged grandmother who smokes
marijuana and I will admit it till the day I die and nobody will stop me,
but they will never catch me again.

Murray McLaughlin: Margot Laughton was homeless for several weeks after she
moved out of her government unit.

This week she moved into private accommodation.

She claims she uses marijuana for medical reasons, and admits to having
traded some.

She's now known on Darwin talkback radio as 'Gunja Granny', and says her
life has been shattered.

Margot Laughton: It's just gone downwards.

Persons that were my friends avoid me they cross the street when they see
me, they don't want to be seen in public with me.

Gary Meyerhoff: The only people that have been targeted so far have been
people in the lower income bracket.

Indigenous people have been targeted and clearly this law is not going to
stop the trade of illicit drugs in the NT.

If anything it's going to force things underground and make life harder for
people.

Murray McLaughlin: Justice Minister Peter Toyne wouldn't talk about the
drug laws because of the ongoing trial against NAP members for their
invasion of Parliament.

Mr Toyne was in court on Wednesday, as a witness in those cases, keen to
avoid any confrontation with NAP members by accessing the court from its
underground car park.

But his defence of the new laws is on the record.

Peter Toyne, NT Attorney-General: The ordinary-everyday-weekend drug user
is not the target of this program.

We want to cut the supply of drugs into our community.

Murray McLaughlin: Peter Toyne was the first of a long line of
parliamentarians to appear in court as witnesses to the charges of
disturbing Parliament.

Each evening for the past fortnight, NAP members have met after court to
plan their defence.

They've been given a copy of the in-house video recording of the invasion.

Concerned about how the scenes might be viewed beyond the NT, the Speaker
has banned news media from broadcasting the tape, under pain of jail or
hefty fine.

NAP members were this week offering copies for sale outside the court.

Murray McLaughlin: The trial itself is consuming immense resources, and the
defendants have been surprised at the tolerance of the presiding magistrate.

Gary Meyerhoff: I think at the end of the day a few of us are going to get
locked up and so maybe he's taking it easy on us throughout the hearing.

Murray McLaughlin: To be colloquial, he's let you away with murder.

Gary Meyerhoff: I've said that myself a number of times.

Murray McLaughlin: They'll have to wait till mid-year to know their fate.

After this week, the trial will be adjourned till May, when Chief Minister
Clare Martin is due to appear as a witness.