Greg Hunt (Flinders, Liberal Party, Minister for Health) Share this | Hansard source

The answer is no. Yesterday I respectfully disagreed with the member for Clark on the proposition he made. Today I will respectfully but categorically disagree with the member. What he has proposed is, I believe, a dangerous and unfounded course of action. Let me say this: whether they are tested or not, MDMA, ice and certain opioids such as fentanyl can be deadly in their purest forms. These are drugs which are illegal for a reason. They are illicit drugs because they can kill. They are illicit drugs because the nature of the response may not be known in an individual case. At the very moment that this parliament, this government and the entire nation are seeking to deal with some of the challenges of both amphetamines and opioids, the idea that we would be condoning, encouraging and supporting the expansion of their consumption is, to my mind, utterly unthinkable.

So this is not a position that the Australian government will be adopting; it is a position that the Australian government will be opposing. We have given the fullest support that we can possibly give to the position of the Tasmanian government. The reason we do this is that we want to save lives and protect lives. We know that not only may there be flaws in the pill-testing approach but, even if it makes it clear that it's a pure form of MDMA, a pure form of ice or a pure form of fentanyl, that is not going to save a person. They may take an overdose, or, even if they take what they believe is an appropriate dose, that can be enough to take their lives. That's why these drugs are dangerous, that's why these drugs are illicit and that's why we will not be adopting the approach which the member has—I believe, foolishly and dangerously—advocated.

See this speech in context