Canberra Liberals want Rachel Stephen-Smith to face inquiry on drug decriminalisation comments

The Canberra Liberals have alleged Ms Stephen-Smith breached standing orders after she told attendees at the recent national Labor conference the bill was able to be done "much more quickly" as it was brought forward by a backbencher.

"We took it to the election quietly. But we could point to our platform and say, 'It's in there', so that after the election we were able to work on it quickly," she reportedly told the conference.

"It was done through a private member's bill which means it could be done much more quickly.

"If the government had tried to do it, I tell you it would have taken two years to develop the legislation ... and we would have had to deal with all this risk aversion and complexity."

The bill to decriminalise drugs was brought forward by Michael Pettersson, who released an exposure draft of the bill only months after the 2020 ACT election. The laws passed last year and will take effect in late October.

Opposition whip Nicole Lawder wrote to Speaker Joy Burch on Wednesday to seek advice on whether this matter constituted a breach of the Legislative Assembly's standing orders.

"During this address to activists, the Minister gloated about the ACT government's approach to drug decriminalisation," Ms Lawder wrote.

"In doing so, the Minister outlined a clear politicisation and misuse of the committee process and the deliberate avoidance of government legislative procedures."

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Ms Stephen-Smith has argued the government was upfront about its drug decriminalisation policy but "didn't go around shouting it from the rooftops" as she said this was not good for those who use drugs.

She has pointed to a motion from Mr Pettersson in 2020 where all parties, including the Canberra Liberals, supported a motion to investigate whether a simple offence notice should be applied to drug possession.

Ms Stephen-Smith told the Assembly on Tuesday that this was carried out through the examination of Mr Pettersson's bill.

"He introduced a bill to the Legislative Assembly in February 2021, and that bill was referred to a select committee established to inquire into the bill, and that committee undertook a public investigation into the proposal - a public investigation into the proposal that sought submissions, that had public hearings, that produced a report and then the ACT government responded to the report," she said.

The Canberra Liberals are intending to introduce a motion into the Assembly on Thursday calling for a select committee on privileges to be established to investigate whether Ms Stephen-Smith or Mr Pettersson have "breached the standing orders by contempt".

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