After a gradual and generally bumpy begin to Labor’s return to energy in Macquarie Avenue, the brand new yr affords a slew of alternatives for the fledgling Minns authorities.
Housing reform, public sector pay negotiations, power coverage and infrastructure supply are key points Labor might want to deal with over the approaching 12 months. The Herald believes drug reform deserves to be equally excessive on the agenda.
Having promised to carry a drug summit ought to it win authorities final March, progress on the talks, which trade advocates and a few Labor MPs hope might result in substantial authorized reform, has been suspiciously gradual.
Requested final week by the Herald whether or not the summit could be held this yr, Minns replied: “That’s the plan”. Pressed on which month which may be, the premier mentioned: “Clearly we’re within the midst of debate in relation to an election dedication. We’re going to go forward with it. I simply don’t have a date for you.”
Whereas there may be little danger Labor will renege on its promise to carry the drug powwow inside its first time period, the hedging over a date could also be a public reflection of the interior unrest the summit will set off inside Labor’s factions over fraught points akin to decriminalisation, capsule testing and pre-court diversion schemes.
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Because the Herald’s state political editor Alexandra Smith wrote final yr, on one facet of the controversy is the socially conservative Minns, and on the opposite main members of the Left.
Frontbenchers Rose Jackson and Jo Haylen have lengthy been in favour of drug regulation reforms, and each have been a part of the parliamentary patrons of the NSW Labor for Drug Legislation Reform over the last time period of parliament. Different Labor cupboard members share the views of Jackson and Haylen.
However it’s a mistake to minimise drug reform as an ideological difficulty. Good individuals on the conservative facet of politics additionally see the sense in a dialogue about reform. As attorney-general beneath Liberal premiers Gladys Berejiklian and Dominic Perrottet, the now Opposition Chief Mark Speakman advocated for reform and tried to pull his cupboard colleagues over the road a number of occasions, together with with a proposal for a three-strike drug possession coverage.