ACT Liberals fight prison needle exchange plan
Debate is heating up over a proposed needle and syringe program at a Canberra prison. Photo: Michael Clayton-Jones
The Canberra Liberals have called on the ACT government to abandon plans to trial a needle exchange program in the Alexander Maconochie Centre prison, saying the territory should not be "crash test dummies" for new policies.
A needle and syringe program at the Alexander Maconochie Centre was part of an agreement struck by Labor and the Greens on forming a minority government after the 2012 ACT election.
However, attempts by the government to put the plan in place have stalled in the face of fierce opposition from prison guards and their union, the CPSU.
Corrections Minister Shane Rattenbury said both Labor and the Greens continued to stand behind their plan, saying it was addressing a public health issue.
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But the Liberals' Andrew Wall called on the ACT government to abandon the program in the Legislative Assembly on Wednesday, saying the government had failed to consider guards' views.
"The ACT should not continually be called upon to be the crash test dummies for ideologically driven policy, or for policy that is at the behest of the solitary ACT Green, balance of power holder," he said.
The opposition's motion was defeated by a vote of nine to eight, but Mr Wall said it would not be the end of their campaign over the issue.
"There'll be continued motions in Parliament, further questions, scrutiny and a public campaign into the future, calling for this to be abandoned," he said.
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ACT Liberals fight prison needle exchange plan