DRUG LAW REFORM
The Hon. Dr MARLENE GOLDSMITH [10.19 p.m.]: I take exception to the comments made by the Hon. B. H. Vaughan in his adjournment speech about drugs. In the first place, the honourable member implied that the drug epidemic is a direct cause of child abuse and neglect in our society, or vice versa. If the honourable member really wants to look at the causes of child abuse and neglect in our society, he should look at the latest research paper from the Australian Institute of Criminology, edited by Dr Don Weatherburn and one other, which draws the unequivocal conclusion that child neglect is the major cause of juvenile delinquency and juvenile crime in Australia.
If we want to make sure that young people do not offend but grow up properly and have a chance in life, we must do away with child neglect. The very policies that the Hon. B. H. Vaughan was advocating for the conference for which he was trying to do a commercial are exactly the policies that have led to an epidemic of drug abuse in Australia. I am tired of listening to the propaganda about drug abuse, because international information reveals that the countries that are succeeding in cutting drug abuse and protecting young people from drugs are those that are taking tough policies on drugs, not go-easy policies. I am tired of hearing such policies as the honourable member is advocating.
Motion agreed to.
House adjourned at 10.21 p.m.