Additional comments from Coalition Senators

1.1Coalition Senators agree with the committee view that the purpose of this bill will not achieve its planned outcomes.

1.2While this bill has good intentions, there are significant concerns over its ability to fulfil its intent in both a safe and practical way.

1.3Coalition Senators believe that Australia’s domestic medicinal cannabis industry is important for those Australians who rely on medicinal cannabis products for the treatment of their illnesses.

1.4While in government, the Coalition led a reform agenda that helped establish Australia’s booming medicinal cannabis industry.

1.5In 2016, under the Turnbull Coalition Government, the Narcotic Drugs Legislation Amendment Bill 2016, and Narcotic Drugs (Licence Charges) Bill 2016 were both passed by the Parliament.[1]

1.6These legislative changes laid the foundation on which Australia’s medicinal cannabis industry was built, by permitting the cultivation and manufacturing of cannabis for medicinal or research purposes.

1.7In addition, these changes allowed States and Territories to regulate how medicinal cannabis is supplied, which in conjunction with the Therapeutic Goods Administration’s Special Access and Authorised Prescriber Schemes, gave hundreds of thousands of Australians a pathway to access new forms of treatment for their chronic illnesses.

1.8In 2019, the Coalition Government commissioned a review of the Narcotic Drugs Act 1967, led by Professor John McMillan AO, with the purpose of reevaluating the 2016 amendments.[2]

1.9The Review found that the existing legislation contained unnecessary regulatory burdens and recommended further amendments to the Act.

1.10In response the Coalition Government passed the Narcotic Drugs Amendment (Medicinal Cannabis) Regulations 2021 Act.

1.11These amendments sought to consolidate the licensing structure into a single licence structure, whilst also reducing identified regulatory burdens on the industry.[3]

1.12In addition to updating the legislative framework around medicinal cannabis, the former Coalition Government committed to providing projects that were granted Major Project Status priority access to medicinal cannabis licences.[4]

1.13This saw such ventures like the $333 million Hydroganics medicinal cannabis facility in South East Queensland and the $70 million Canopy Growth facility in regional Victoria receive Major Project Status and as a result prioritised medicinal cannabis licensing.[5]

1.14These projects, along with many others, saw increased investment in Australia’s cannabis industry which directly translated to local jobs and economic growth.

1.15Coalition Senators reaffirm their commitment to the Australians who require access to medicinal cannabis to treat their chronic or terminal illnesses and to Australia’s growing medicinal cannabis industry.

Senator Maria Kovacic

Senator Kerrynne Liddle

Footnotes

[1]Jonathan Mills, Narcotic Drugs Legislation Amendment Bill 2017 [and] Narcotic Drugs (Licence Charges) Bill 2016, Bills Digest No. 34, 2016–2017, Parliamentary Library, Canberra,2016.

[2]Department of Health and Aged Care, Review of the Narcotic Drugs Act 1967, 4March2019, https://www.tga.gov.au/news/media-releases/review-narcotic-drugs-act-1967.

[3]Narcotic Drugs Amendment (Medicinal Cannabis) Regulations 2021 Bill, Explanatory Memorandum, p. 1.

[4]The Hon Greg Hunt MP, Former Minister for Health and Aged Care, ‘Boosting Australia’s medicinal cannabis industry’, Media Release, 2 August 2019, https://www.health.gov.au/ministers/the-hon-greg-hunt-mp/media/boosting-australias-medicinal-cannabis-industry.

[5]The Hon Karen Andrews MP, Former Minister for Industry, Science and Technology, the Hon Greg Hunt MP, Former Minister for Health, ‘Making Australia an international leader in medicinal cannabis’, Media Release, 2 December 2019, https://www.minister.industry.gov.au/ministers/karenandrews/media-releases/making-australia-international-leader-medicinal-cannabis.