Nandor should welcome parliamentary scrutiny

Turner: Nandor should welcome parliamentary scrutiny

United Future deputy leader Judy Turner today rejected Green MP Nandor Tanczos’s criticism of the United Future-driven changes to the Misuse of Drugs Amendment Bill (No3) that mean no drug can have its legal status downgraded without undergoing full parliamentary scrutiny.

“Given that Nandor says that the Greens would want Parliament to legalise cannabis, I must admit that I’m a little lost that he seems so upset by our amendment that means exactly that process must now occur, rather than mere ministerial sign-off by an order-in-council,” Mrs Turner said.

“I think he doth protest too much. A case of sour grapes - or whatever the Greens’ equivalent of that might be?” she said.

“Let’s get to the point: Nandor and the Greens - the only party that opposed making P a class A drug - want cannabis legalised any way they can get it. This United Future-driven amendment is a setback for them and their aims, which frankly don’t have an iota of principle behind them.

“And in terms of Nandor talking about our supposed ‘fetish’ with cannabis, this is a little rich coming from a man who has built a political career on the single issue of a green leaf.

“I look forward to the day that he looks at how he can serve a useful purpose in Parliament and promote something other than a psycho-active plant,” she said.

Mrs Turner said she was indebted to the drug advocacy group, NORML, and its publication Norml News, to which Mr Tanczos is a regular contributor, for pointing out that the Bill as it stood was open to the status of cannabis being changed down by an order-in-council.

Ends.