BY Jane Norman
Independent senator Jacqui Lambie has spoken publicly about her inability to help her 21-year-old son recover from his addiction to the drug ice.
The Senate is debating legislation that would strip welfare payments from people who have been charged with a serious offence and are being held in psychiatric confinement.
Senator Lambie said she would take the “hard road” and oppose the legislation, telling the Government to think “more broadly” about mental health and drug addiction.
Watch the Senator’s moving speech here:
“I am a senator of Australia and I have a 21-year-old son that has a problem with ice, and yet even with my title I have no control over my son,” she told the Chamber.
“I can’t involuntarily detox my own son, because I am not talking to my son anymore, I’m talking to a drug.
“And I can tell you, I’m not the only parent out there. There is [sic] thousands of us.”
According to the senator the people who would be affected by the legislation were in a special category because they were not in control of their actions.
“It is very easy to take a populist position and vote for legislation that takes a hard line against people who are alleged to have committed terrible crimes and have serious mental illnesses,” she said.
“The harder position is to oppose this legislation on the basis that it undermines basic civil rights and the chance for quicker recovery for people who are very sick.”
Senator wants laws so parents can force children into rehab.
Senator Lambie is instead calling for national legislation that would enable parents to force their drug-addicted children into rehabilitation.
The Tasmanian senator said the impact of ice was “phenomenal”, and warned addicts would end up one of three ways.
“They will end up on a slab, they will end up in these mental institutions, they will end up killing somebody else because of their actions because they don’t have control of the drug,” she said.
After her speech, Liberal senator Chris Back thanked Senator Lambie for sharing her personal story.
“There is no community in Australia that’s protected or immune from this absolute scourge,” he said.
However Senator Back spoke in favour of the Government’s bill, saying there was no justification to pay welfare benefits to people who were already being taken care of by the state.
“Their needs would be met by the state or territory,” he said.
“The only difference in this circumstance is that the people about whom we speak have been determined to not be able to stand trial.”
This post originally appeared on ABC News.
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Top Comments
I admire Jacqui Lambi's courage in coming forward with her and her son's struggle - addiction is a disease - not a crime - and it needs to be treated as such - my father was an addict (alcohol) and I'm an addict (codeine - pain killers) - my grandfather was also an alcoholic - some people are prone to addiction and they must be treated medically - not criminally!!
Congratulations to Jacqui Lambie for both sharing her experience and trying to do something. Where are Mr Abbott, Mr Shorten & Mr Baird?? The silence is deafening. More & more people become addicted with no hope of receiving treatment EVER. Bad luck if you live outside of Newcastle, Sydney or Wollongong. There are no treatment centres available. Ever tried to convince an ice addict that they have a problem & need to voluntarily get help? I have, it doesn't work. It's laughable. Decriminalisation isn't the answer but then neither is what little we are doing at the moment.
Except for the decriminalisation, I agree with your sentiment. Too many people, too many families and therefore the fabric of our society is affected. When the addicts argue they are not responsible for their actions under Section 32 of the Mental Health Act and they essentially get away with their criminal behaviour it begs the question who is benefiting from keeping what is essentially a health issue criminal. Some of these people actually commit their crimes to go back inside where they feel comfortable and still able to access their choice of drug. The hideous nature of addiction means they don't or can't recognise they NEED help. If addicts still have loving families who are desperate to get them help why would we deny this remedy or avenue? We need detox facilities and we need to force addicts to detoxify and equip them with tools which will help them get off and stay off the sh*t. If, after this opportunity the former addict makes the INFORMED decision to get back on then at least our responsibility as a society is genuinely diminished.