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The Hon. DAVID CLARKE [6.06 p.m.]: A great scourge of our time is the harm and destruction created by the use of illegal drugs of addiction. It causes harm and destruction to individuals, it unleashes misery on families and family life, it degrades and debases the nation as a whole, and, most sadly, it degrades and destroys the lives of those who are the future of Australia by killing many of our nation's youth. It symbolises evil in all its corrosiveness and darkness. Approaches on how to deal with the problem vary as to method and desired outcome. Some advocate what is known as the harm minimisation approach. This approach forms the operating basis of the Kings Cross injecting room—or the "shooting gallery", as it is more correctly known—which operates as a magnet to addicts and is an open invitation for them to continue with business as usual. The Kings Cross injecting room is a failure and the approach upon which it is based is a failure. It exacerbates the problem and has become part of the problem. It is a waste of public money and I wish this Parliament would close it down.
However, there is another approach—a very different approach—that is based on harm prevention. This approach is based on no compromise with the culture of drugs. This approach says that we need to get addicts 100 per cent free of harmful drugs of addiction and that we do not achieve that aim by providing drugs to drug addicts. The harm prevention approach is being pursued with great success by a number of programs and organisations in our community—and the Kings Cross injecting room is certainly not one of them.
I pay tribute to a program that is having great success reclaiming young people from drug addiction. I pay tribute to Teen Challenge, the program initiated and conducted by the Hillsong Church and its many thousands of members centred in The Hills district of Sydney. Teen Challenge is a community-based organisation that generates drug education and prevention and offers a restoration program to those whose lives have been ravaged by drugs. It caters for young people aged 16 to 35 years and their families and focuses on those struggling with substance abuse or with other destructive addictions. It has a very high success rate by approaching a person from a spiritual as well as a material aspect. It gets to the core factors that contribute to people turning to drugs. Teen Challenge's statement of aims declares that it focuses on "rebuilding key foundations in critical areas such as one's family living, work ethics, self image, peer pressure and community relationships". The program maintains a competent, dedicated and Christian-inspired staff. Its endeavours include operating a training centre at Chester Hill, where at any one time 60 full-time students receive the support and infrastructure needed to lift young people from the cycle of addiction. Its policy is: No compromise with drugs. This policy is a pathway to the permanent rehabilitation of addicts.
I commend Teen Challenge and its dedicated staff for its great success. I acknowledge and express gratitude to Hillsong Church for its humanitarian Christian endeavours in this field. I express my admiration of Hillsong Church for its programs not only in fighting drug abuse but also in promoting support of the family, the institution upon which our nation is structured. The Hillsong Church community, with its programs based on Christian faith, Christian ethics and Christian practices, is an important voice and an instrument for good in our community. It is Christianity in action. I pay tribute to Pastor Brian Houston, who leads Hillsong Church, for his inspiration, his Christian-based initiatives, his perseverance over adversity and for his leadership. Pastor Brian Hughson is a man of vision and faith. Australia and the State of New South Wales are the continuing beneficiaries of the many good outreach works of Hillsong Church, and I wish it even greater success in the future.