Tuesday, 14 November 2023

Medically supervised injecting facilities

Renee HEATH (Eastern Victoria) (17:42): (593) The latest coroner’s report details that 2022 was Victoria’s worst year for overdose deaths in a decade, up over 42 per cent since the Andrews–Allan government came to power, with illicit drug overdose deaths up a staggering 88 per cent. The three worst years for illicit drug overdose deaths in Victoria have come since Labor, supported by the Greens, opened the drug-injecting room in Richmond. There has been a 21 per cent increase in illicit overdose deaths in the four years since the injecting room opened compared to the four years prior. Over 2100 Victorians have died from overdoses since the opening of the injecting rooms. That is a tragedy for all of those individuals and in the ongoing devastation that their loved ones suffer. None of the six objectives of the medically supervised injecting rooms (MSIR) have been achieved. Those six points were reduced deaths, better health outcomes, better amenities, less discarded paraphernalia, less transmission of bloodborne viruses and less stress on local health facilities.

The recent report sadly confirms another concern about the MSIR in that it would increase experimentation with harmful substances. In 2022 a record 77.6 per cent of overdose deaths were due to multidrug toxicity. These record high statistics have come just as the government has extended its licence for the first injecting room and is planning on opening a second. Once again we see the pattern of socialist big government. The problem is identified, politicians get involved and the problem worsens. We saw this with record lockdowns in Victoria during COVID and with interference in the rental and energy markets, and now tragically we are seeing it with illicit drugs. We sincerely hope that every MP of whatever persuasion wants better outcomes for drug-affected and drug-addicted Victorians, but the current ideologies are perpetuating and exacerbating the problem in this sector and in our community. The report, however, details that Frankston and Darebin councils have reduced heroin overdose deaths by a third despite not having a drug-injecting room. Surely taxpayer funds would be better spent on working with these councils to find out what they are doing and how that can be implemented across the state.

So my adjournment is for the Minister for Mental Health, and the action that I seek is that the minister provide a report on how many of the 230 people who died from heroin overdoses last year and the 173 who died the year before were clients of the medically supervised injecting room.