Today former President of the NSW Council for Civil Liberties and former NSW Director of Public Prosecutions, Nicholas Cowdery AO KC, appeared before the inquiry into the impact of the regulatory frameworks for cannabis in NSW.

The NSW Council for Civil Liberties has long called for decriminalisation coupled with regulation of cannabis across Australia. We believe that the criminal law is ill-suited to deal with drug use in the community.

NSW Council for Civil Liberties has expressed strong opposition to the new Campus Access Policy, with President Lydia Shelly calling for its "immediate reversal." In a statement, Shelly described the policy as "an affront to the democratic principles universities should be fostering – not banning."

The policy mandates that all demonstrations must notify the university at least 72 hours in advance. It outlines "unacceptable activities," including protests without prior notice, and categorizes certain actions, such as using megaphones and amplifiers or hanging banners from University buildings, as "activities that require approval."

Violations of these restrictions may lead to protesters being removed from campus, having property confiscated, or being detained by campus security and handed over to NSW Police.

Listen to Nicholas Cowdery, former NSW Director of Public Prosecutions and long time Committee member of NSWCCL on ABC's RN Drive: Most of us trust the police, but courts not so much.

Check it out!

This year the NSW Labor Conference provides an opportunity for the Government to abandon the draconian policies relating to bail laws, the suite of anti-protest laws and the harmful drug laws that are unfair and unjust and must be changed.

NSW Labor has a proud 130-year history of convening this annual democratic assembly. We urge the Labor parliamentary team to listen to its members and put into practice the democratic ideals of the party’s founders.

This Labor conference should be a place where the government emerges with a plan for a more positive future for everyone in NSW. Labor’s policies should leave no-one behind. We urge the Minns Labor Government to seize this moment and reframe the future for NSW through a lens that is evidence based, democratic and upholds the Labor values that our oldest political party should be so proud of.

The NSW government has finally scheduled its long-promised Drug Summit, which will take place over four days, including regional sessions in October and hearings in Sydney in December. 

Announcing the summit on July 12, the government emphasised its aim to gather insights from medical professionals, law enforcement, individuals with personal experience, drug user organisations, families, and other stakeholders. This forum aims to foster a consensus on addressing drug use and its associated harms in NSW.

The summit raises hopes for progressive drug law reforms, echoing the precedent set by former Premier Bob Carr’s 1999 Drug Summit, which led to significant changes, including the establishment of the now-permanent medically supervised injecting room in Kings Cross.

On July 18, Palestinian activist Sara Shaweesh was arrested at Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's electorate office in Marrickville. Shaweesh, who is a citizen and whose local member is the Prime Minister, has been part of a peaceful picket outside the office for almost six months, helping to initiate it.

The arrest occurred after she attempted to inquire about the denial of visas for her family members in Gaza. Police cited "trespass" as the reason for her arrest, confiscated her phone, and detained her at Newtown Police Station for more than three hours before charging her.

For nearly six months, a group of peaceful protestors have maintained a vigil outside Anthony Albanese’s electorate office in Marrickville. The vigil is noteworthy in that the organisers, their families and attendees are diverse in their religious beliefs and cultural heritage. Importantly, the organisers and many of the protestors live in the local electorate of Grayndler.

Six months on, they are still seeking a meeting with their local member of parliament to discuss Australia’s obligation in preventing the further suffering of Palestinians which includes forced starvation, mass displacement and the unprecedented violence in Occupied Territories of Palestine and Gaza.

Unfortunately, Mr Albanese has refused to meet with his constituents. Yesterday, Mr Albanese’s office issued a letter to the peaceful protestors, demanding that the peaceful vigil be conducted elsewhere.

NSW Council for Civil Liberties wrote to the Prime Minister in April urging him to meet with his constituents. We recognise this vigil as a legitimate exercise of democratic freedoms available in Australia. To date, no response has been received.

NSW Council for Civil Liberties position is unequivocal - the democratic rights of peaceful protestors must be protected and the Prime Minister has an obligation not only to uphold the right to protest, but to meet with his constituents.

We will always defend the right to protest and the protestors who choose to exercise this right.

A Palestinian-Australian constituent of Anthony Albanese seeking visa help has been arrested and charged with trespassing, after she allegedly refused to leave the prime minister’s electorate office in the Sydney seat of Grayndler.

Sarah Shaweesh livestreamed her arrest on social media, saying she was a local constituent who lived in Marrickville, and the police had “threatened to arrest me because I went into the office to ask about my family’s declined visa applications”.

What sort of drug law reforms are likely to be on the agenda at the 2024 NSW Drug Summit?

The changes sought are focused on people who use drugs, not cultivators, manufacturers or suppliers, because it’s long been understood that illicit drug use should be treated as a health issue and not a crime.

Uniting’s Fair Treatment campaign has been calling for drug decriminalisation in NSW and the ACT since 2018, and so have the over 70 other organisations partnering with them, which include the NSW Bar Association, Community Legal Centres NSW and the Aboriginal Legal Service NSW/ACT.

Currently, in NSW, a person found with a quantity of an illegal drug deemed for personal use can be charged with drug possession, which is an offence under section 10 of the Drug Misuse and Trafficking Act 1985 (NSW) (DMT Act) that carries a maximum penalty of 2 years imprisonment and/or a fine of $2,200.

While section 12 of the DMT Act makes it a crime to self-administer an illicit substance, which too carries a maximum of 2 years imprisonment and/or a fine of $2,200.

Decriminalisation would see the revoking of the criminal sanctions relating to these laws, so that possession or use would no longer be a crime. Instead, people found in possession would rather be subject to a civil penalty, a small fine, or have the option of attending a counselling session.

NSW Premier Chris Minns last week announced a four-day Drug Summit to take place in December, comprising two days of regional forums in October 2024 and two days of forums in Sydney.

The announcement of the 2024 Drug Summit fulfils one of Labor’s election promises in a move that has been widely welcomed. 

Lydia Shelly, President of the NSW Council for Civil Liberties (NSWCCL), commended the Premier for listening to the community and announcing the Drug Summit. 

“This Summit is crucial for changing the demonisation of drug use and users and addressing the over-policing of minority populations. The success of reform depends on changing the way we talk about drugs and those who use them,” she said. 

“Pill testing provides individuals with critical information about the substances they intend to consume, enabling them to make informed and safer choices. Pill testing saves lives and the Summit is an ideal environment to have the conversation.”

Read the full article here.