Page 1605 - Week 06 - Wednesday, 2 June 2021

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MS STEPHEN-SMITH: Each Australian jurisdiction will implement their own local version of the national RTPM system over 2021 and 2022 to enable national consistency.

The ACT government is working with the Australian government and other partners to make the system available for early adopter sites in November 2021—

Mr Hanson: Hear, hear!

MADAM SPEAKER: You are warned, Mr Hanson.

MS STEPHEN-SMITH: before a complete rollout to all providers from February 2022.

MADAM SPEAKER: Mr Hanson, I come in here every question time and your interjections are consistent and persistent. I ignore them quite a bit. Whether it is “Hear, hear” or snide remarks over Mr Pettersson, I really have had enough.

Mrs Jones: Madam Speaker, on your ruling: is it genuinely the case that you think we should now sit totally silently in the chamber?

MADAM SPEAKER: No, and you will know that in every question time I do not ask for that. But there is serial offending that sometimes just gets the better of me.

Mr Hanson: I accept your ruling, Madam Speaker, but I would just like to make a response. The first interjection I made in the entire question time—I think the last question—it was a pretty gentle comment. Then I was saying “Hear, hear” to the minister because I fundamentally agree with what she is saying. I really do.

MR PETTERSSON: Minister, how does Canberra Script reduce harm in the Canberra community?

Mrs Jones interjecting—

MADAM SPEAKER: Mrs Jones, don’t stretch it today. Ms Lee, you must talk to your colleagues.

Ms Lee: Yes, Madam Speaker.

MS STEPHEN-SMITH: I thank Mr Pettersson for the supplementary. Over the past decade, deaths due to the misuse of drugs have become more likely to be from prescription drugs than illicit drugs. Nationally, the number of deaths involving opioid pain relief medication has more than tripled in the last 10 years. According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, in 2016, there were 663 drug-induced deaths where benzodiazepines were present and 550 where opioids such as oxycodone and codeine were present. These statistics highlight the devastating impact that the dependency and overuse of prescription medicines have on the Australian community.


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