Tuesday 23 April 2024
The Allan Labor Government’s decision to walk-away from a second injecting room is the right outcome.
This long-overdue decision ends years of uncertainty for residents, traders and visitors to Melbourne’s CBD and provides the opportunity to focus on delivering commonsense solutions to the growing problem of drug and alcohol dependency.
Since the Lay Report was first commissioned almost four years ago, Victoria’s waitlist for drug and alcohol services has grown by 40 per cent.
During this time, Labor purchased the former Yooralla building on Flinders Street for more than $40 million and floated potential injecting room locations near the Queen Victoria Market and on Bourke Street just 200 metres from State Parliament.
The real-world consequence of Labor’s indecision is four lost years where meaningful steps to reduce drug dependence and harm could’ve been taken, including through increased support and rehabilitation services.
In 2022, the Liberals and Nationals took a comprehensive plan to deliver 180 new alcohol or other drug rehabilitation and withdrawal beds at six facilities across the state and continue to support measures to support dependent drug-users to break the cycle of addiction.
Now that this overdue decision has been made, the focus must shift to delivering services that will address the worsening rates of drug-addiction that continue to grow under the Allan Labor Government.