Scott Buchholz (Wright, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Road Safety and Freight Transport) Share this | Hansard source

I acknowledge all of the contributions that were made in this House today on this debate, and I offer a local contribution. I have in my electorate a gentleman in his late 70s who is suffering from Parkinson's disease. He's highly intelligent. Now, there are many forms of intelligence. On the academic intelligence side, he is extremely well read. He is held in high regard. He does an enormous amount of work for universities. He has a special interest in logistics with Defence. Unfortunately, whilst his mind is sharp, his body is failing him in the way of this degenerative disease. The shaking, which is a symptom of Parkinson's disease, is off-putting to the point he tends to become more recluse. We have the fortune of hearing him through the telephone. One of the previous speakers mentioned the black market. He may or may not get access to some medicinal cannabis, but you can see within an hour a marked improvement.

I would have been one of the first spear-chuckers to defend the medical fraternity in this space and to make sure we go through the appropriate trials, and we will. Deputy Speaker Gillespie knows full well what some of those concerns are. But, as far as the government are concerned, we do want to reduce the red tape to allow people to progress. Part of that are the people who are going to make capital investments in this area. I suggest to the people who have made a contribution to this debate that some of those investments will be to the tune of many hundreds of millions of dollars to advance the medicinal cannabis sector. All strength to their arm. I appreciate the support that has come from the other side of the chamber.

The Narcotic Drugs Amendment (Medicinal Cannabis) Bill 2021 amends the Narcotic Drugs Act to support and innovate the Australian medicinal cannabis industry for the benefit of Australians and patients by implementing three specific factors. The first measure is reducing the burden of regulation and the licensing assessment process, which is very important, by providing a single medicinal cannabis licence to replace the current suite of licences required for cultivation, production, manufacturing and research. Those will be bundled and replaced with one licence. The second measure is providing greater certainty to businesses and reducing duplicate processes by providing for the single licence to be permanent rather than recurring. The third measure is reaffirming the Australian government's commitment to patients of a safe, legal and sustainable supply of cannabis derived medicines, which will be in either liquid form or capsule form.

These changes maintain the careful balance the act strikes between facilitating cultivation, production and manufacturing of medicinal cannabis and implementing Australia's obligations under the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs to safeguard against illegal practices and to provide for safe and sustainable pathways for patients to access medicinal cannabis therapies. I thank the members for their contributions to this debate.

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