2016-05-29
Greens Councillor for Richmond Misha Coleman said that she supported the use of Federal funding to trial a mobile supervised injecting van in Richmond, as proposed by local traders.
She said that "the police describe Victoria Street in Richmond as a 'spine of crime'. While Victoria Street traders have long campaigned for the installation of CCTV cameras, we know that, without any other measures, simply erecting cameras is of huge concern to residents in nearby streets, which is where drug use and the drug trade will shift to. And moving drug usage to back streets also increases the likelihood of unattended overdose and deaths".
"That's why we were so pleased to see the announcement by traders in the area to support a feasibility study into the introduction of a mobile supervised injecting facility (The Age, 18th May) in return for gaining broader support into CCTV camera installation."
Following the policy announcement by Greens Leader Dr Richard Di Natale to establish a $10 million Harm Reduction Innovation Fund on 18th May, Misha Coleman said "there's now a funding vehicle to circumvent the impasse between the State Government's ongoing refusal to consider any sort of supervised injecting facility, and the incredible health need of the thousands of people in Victoria who have a chronic substance addiction. We see these health problems every day in streets like Victoria Street, where the facilities for help and treatment are just not available for the level of demand that exists."
"Residents from Richmond contact me every day - they want to see a comprehensive set of measures to reduce drug-related health problems AND drug-related crime. They don't just want to see a problem moved from one location to another – that other place being their front yard!" said Ms Coleman.
Federal Member for Melbourne, Adam Bandt, also said today that "I am very worried that Richard Wynne will unilaterally install CCTV without any plan to deal with the broader drug problem, which will just push drug use and drug dealing into the front yards of residents near Victoria Street. We should trial the traders' suggestion of a supervised injecting facility and if the State Government hasn't got the guts to do it, the Federal Government should step in."
Cr Misha Coleman, Greens Council Candidate for Victoria
0428 399 739
Twitter @MishaColeman