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.”

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Following the arrest and 3-month jail sentence of climate change protester Laura Davy, 21, a second protester has been given a one month custodial sentence after he suspended himself above a railway track in Newcastle.

Samuel Gribben, 21, received appeal bail on Friday following his sentence for his action as part of the coal port Blockade Australia protests.

Lydia Shelly, President, NSW Council for Civil Liberties (NSWCCL) called for NSW anti-protest laws to be immediately repealed. 

“There is no place for them in an open and democratic society. The right to protest is integral to democratic system of government and way of life,” she said. 

“In Australia, protest movements have historically been instrumental in holding governments to account and affecting real change. This has included disruptive protests that are considered ‘inconvenient.’”

Shelly adds that these anti-protest laws “not only criminalise protests, but they also cultivate an environment of fear and they have a chilling effect on organising peaceful movements that desire positive social change.”

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The NSW Council for Civil Liberties (NSWCCL) commends the Minns Government for today’s announcement of the 2024 Drug Summit and 12 new drug and alcohol hubs across state.

The 1999 Drug Summit held by Labor remains a significant and defining moment for drug law reform in Australia and globally. The 2024 Drug Summit gives New South Wales another chance to lead the conversation about drug use and harm minimisation.

The right to protest is a fundamental democratic right that allows us to express our views, shape our societies,
and press for social change. In NSW, and nationally across Australia, it is under attack.

In April 2022, the NSW Parliament passed legislation to prevent “illegal protesting” on major roads, bridges,
tunnels, public transport, and infrastructure facilities. The legislation amends section 144G the Roads Act 1993
which criminalises causing serious disruption by entering, remaining on or trespassing on prescribed major
bridges and tunnels, to now include all “main roads”. Offences carry a maximum penalty of $22,000 or two
years in gaol, or both.

In New South Wales, section 144G of the Roads Act 1993 (NSW) and section 214A of the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW)
significantly infringe people’s rights to freedom of movement, freedom of speech, freedom of assembly and
freedom of political communication, and ought to be repealed. These laws are restrictive and repressive.

There's a prevalent narrative enabled by these laws emphasising security threats and perceptions of disruption
associated with public protests. This narrative emboldens law enforcement to use unnecessary force against
protestors and pursue disproportionate laws and actions against protestors in New South Wales and across
Australia.

In our recent submission to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and of
Association, we recommended that the Special Rapporteur visit Australia to assess Australia’s Laws and legal
framework regarding their compliance of with right to peaceful assembly and of association.

The NSW Council for Civil Liberties opposes in the strongest terms the newly announced “Campus Access Policy 2024”.  We proudly stand beside students and staff at Sydney University in the fight to protect their right to protest.

We are astounded that Sydney University would join with state governments and large corporations in Australia who seek to encroach on the right of public assembly and to shut down free speech. The University, which can boast a proud history of facilitating free speech and protest on campus should not be part of problem.

In response to the rise of a deadly drug and a string of overdoses, the Victorian Government announced on Monday, June 24, that they will conduct a pill testing trial for 18 months with plans to make the service permanent. Calls are now mounting for NSW Premier Chris Minns to step up and do the same. 

Nitazene is a potent substance 500 times stronger than heroin, according to NSW Health, and is continuously found in illegal drugs across the state. 

Yet despite rising pressure on the premier to follow the example of other states and implement pill testing, there was no funding in last week’s budget for the long-awaited Drug Summit.

Pill testing is a harm reduction strategy that allows a person to find out what the pill contains, preventing people from using “unusually strong or contaminated drugs”.  

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The NSW Police Force is still the primary investigator of complaints against itself and its own critical incidents. The lack of independent oversight has sparked serious concerns for the integrity of these investigations. 

In 2016, the Baird government passed the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission Act 2016 (NSW). The Act established the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission (LECC) as a body combining “the then various avenues of independent police oversight into the one watchdog.” The LECC is responsible for detecting, investigating and exposing “serious misconduct and serious maladministration in the NSW Police Force and the NSW Crime Commission.” 

However, the LECC often merely monitors the police as they investigate their own critical incidents – that is, incidents that involve officers causing “death or serious harm.” 

In response to the rise of a deadly drug and a string of overdoses, the Victorian Government announced on Monday that they will conduct an 18-month pill testing trial with plans to make the service permanent.

Calls are now mounting for NSW Premier Chris Minns to follow suit.

Despite increasing pressure on the premier to implement pill testing, last week's budget included no funding for the long-awaited Drug Summit.

Pill testing is a harm reduction strategy that allows individuals to identify the contents of a pill, preventing the use of unusually strong or contaminated drugs.

Civil liberties advocates are calling for stronger protections after Australian Taxation Office (ATO) whistleblower Richard Boyle lost his appeal to secure immunity from prosecution. 

The former debt collector accused the ATO of aggressively pursuing debts from small businesses, which he said was destroying lives and causing unnecessary trauma in order to meet revenue goals.

Boyle is accused of 24 offences, including using a mobile phone to take pictures of taxpayers’ information and secretly recording conversations with colleagues. He had sought to rely on the Public Interest Disclosure Act, the whistleblowing law for public servants, to shield him from a criminal trial.

The matter will likely now go back to the South Australian District Court, where Boyle is expected to face trial in September. If convicted, he could face up to 46 years in prison.

This week Chris Minns has broken his promise to the people of New South Wales. He has abandoned his commitment to the drug law reform agenda he spruiked pre-election.

In Tuesday's budget, there was no funding for the long-promised Drug Summit. There was no funding to support the harm reduction strategies our communities so desperately need.

It has now been 25 years since the last Drug Summit occurred, and each day without action puts our communities further at risk of harm.