Federal politicians are once more trying to override ACT legislation, this time seeking to overturn the decriminalisation of small amounts of some illicit drugs, including cocaine, ice and heroin.
Shadow attorney-general Michaelia Cash has introduced a private senator’s bill – the Australian Capital Territory Dangerous Drugs Bill 2023 – which will be debated next month.
Under the ACT laws, which were passed about a year ago, people found with amounts considered to be “personal possession” — smaller than trafficable quantities — would be subject to fines rather than criminal charges.
Taking effect next month, the legislation will allow police to continue to target dealers and try to disrupt Canberra’s drug trade.
In a statement, federal opposition leader Peter Dutton said the new laws “beggar belief”.
“I am totally shocked and dismayed at what the ACT government is doing,” he said.
“As a former police officer, I know that our hard-working law enforcement agencies work tirelessly to keep drugs off the streets and to keep our community safe, yet here we see this crazy government legislation that gives a green light to drug use and drug importation to Canberra.
“The ACT government is rolling out the red carpet for drug use and more crime. It is effectively welcoming more ice, heroin, cocaine, MDMA and speed on our streets.”
Mr Dutton said the Coalition was urging Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to support its bid to quash the laws.
“The Australian Federal Police have warned that the laws would lure recreational drug users into Canberra and spark an increase in drug-related deaths,” he said.
“Police resources are already scarce. This will be a disaster as drug dealers see Canberra as a new boom market for organised crime.
“This is madness.”
Senator Cash said she believed the ACT legislation had “opened the door to dangerous drugs”.
“Where is the PM and where is [Labor] senator Katy Gallagher on this issue?” she asked.
“This is a test of leadership for the PM and his Canberra senator.”
In a statement, ACT Labor senator and former chief minister Katy Gallagher said the laws were a “matter for the ACT Assembly”.
“The ACT Assembly is a mature parliament, democratically elected by ACT voters,” she said in a statement.
“I have spent my career in public life supporting the rights of Canberrans to determine the laws, policies and programs under which they are governed, and I will continue to do so despite the attempts by the federal opposition to try to undermine them.”
‘I do not agree with this action’: Canberra Liberals leader
Canberra Liberals leader Elizabeth Lee said this morning she was concerned about the proposed challenge by her federal counterparts.
Ms Lee said she feared the intervention would contravene territory rights.
“The Canberra Liberals will always stand up for territory rights and I am very concerned about any step to diminish that,” she said.
“I do not agree with this action taken by the federal Coalition to seek to overturn legislation that was passed by the ACT Assembly.”
She said she disagreed with the new laws but the involvement of the federal Coalition was not the way to overturn them.
“At the time this bill was debated, the Canberra Liberals strongly fought against its introduction. We did not support the legislation then; we do not support it now and we have committed to repealing this law in government,” she said.
“The only way to get this law overturned is to vote the Barr-Rattenbury government out at the next ACT election, not having federal intervention into ACT laws.
“I have written to the federal leader of the opposition, Senator Cash and Julian Leeser to express my serious concerns.”
Federal politicians’ third attempt in past year to override ACT laws
Senator Cash’s bill is the third attempt by federal parliamentarians to block or change an ACT law in recent months.
A federal ban preventing the ACT and Northern Territory from legislating for voluntary assisted dying was overturned in December last year and a bill seeking to force an inquiry into the ACT government’s takeover of a local public hospital was defeated yesterday.
ACT Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith described the bid as “another day, another attack on territory rights by the federal Coalition”.
She said the federal opposition’s intervention was more about the politics than the policy.
“This is the federal Coalition throwing red meat to their base, it’s really probably got nothing to do with the ACT,” she said.
“They’re trying to send a broader message to the people of Australia about how conservative they are, and it’s creating real problems for the Canberra Liberals.”
Ms Stephen-Smith said the drug decriminalisation laws had been through a comprehensive process in the Legislative Assembly, which included an extensive inquiry and was first introduced in an exposure draft in 2020.
“So for anyone to say anything other than this was a thorough consideration by the Legislative Assembly is completely ridiculous,” she said.
But she did concede that she “could have used more careful language” at Labor’s national conference, where she said her party had “quietly” taken the policy to decriminalise drugs to the last election.
ACT independent senator David Pocock said the proposed motion by Senator Cash set a “dangerous precedent”.
“We just had a 25-year campaign to overturn the Andrews bill [granting territory rights]; that went through the Senate [with] unanimous support,” Senator Pocock said.
“What’s next? Are we going to see them try and overturn voluntary assisted dying laws once they’re legislated? It’s a terrible precedent.
“I think it shows how out of touch they are with the ACT.”
Senator Pocock said he was not confident the motion would pass.
“I don’t think there’ll be much support to reach into the territory’s affairs outside of the Coalition,” he said.
This morning, ACT Attorney-General Shane Rattenbury said he also believed the federal government should not interfere in matters of territory law.
“As long as the constitution is framed in the way it is, this is going to continue to be a challenge for both the ACT and the Northern Territory, where federal parliamentarians will seek to use the special powers they have over territories at times to intervene when they don’t agree with what the locally elected governments have done,” he said.
“This is simply another attack on territory rights.”
Mr Rattenbury said he did not think it was a coincidence that, just days ago, a motion by Canberra Liberals MLA Jeremy Hanson to overturn the laws had failed in the ACT Legislative Assembly.
“Jeremy Hanson is clearly running this campaign extremely hard and I would suggest there is a degree of collaboration [with the federal Coalition],” he said.
Mr Rattenbury said the federal government had misunderstood the views of the ACT community.
“I think it doesn’t reflect the majority view of Canberra,” he said.
“We’ve seen that the Liberal Party now has no representation here federally for the ACT.
“I think what our community is really looking for is solutions, not shrill negativity.”
Last week, the ACT’s Chief Police Officer Neil Gaughan said he was preparing his officers for the upcoming change in law.
He said officers stationed in Braddon and the city had been trained, and warned about changing their attitudes to drugs.
But he said he had some concerns about the effects of the laws.
“And I am concerned about people trying drugs who haven’t historically done it because there will be confusion, particularly for young people,” he said.
“I think it would be really naive to think people aren’t going to come to Canberra and try something different.”
