Queensland government to roll out pill testing at Gold Coast Schoolies celebrations
The state government has announced plans to roll out pill testing at Schoolies on the Gold Coast this year. However, the LNP has vowed to scrap the scheme if it wins office next October.
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00:00It's the end of year celebration for high school graduates and this year there are plans
00:09to include pill testing at Gold Coast schoolies.
00:13We are not condoning drug use but providing a safe way for young people to understand
00:19what they might be consuming and to make an informed choice.
00:23Pill testing was offered for the first time in Queensland at a music festival in March.
00:28Two fixed site services have since opened.
00:31Additional funding will now see testing expanded to schoolies.
00:35These are crucial opportunities to reduce harm for Queenslanders.
00:39The CEO of schoolies has welcomed the move saying the organisation supports the confidential
00:45and free pill testing service and if it saves one life it's worthwhile.
00:50But it's a bitter pill to swallow for the opposition who will dump the service if it
00:54wins the October election.
00:56It wouldn't happen.
00:58We do not support the weakening of drug laws in the state that we've seen under the Labor
01:02government and Shannon Fentiman.
01:04It's again disappointing that these critical services are at risk if the LNP win the election.
01:09The health minister unveiled the announcement while facing scrutiny at budget estimates.
01:14Slippery.
01:15Oh you want to talk about slippery?
01:17Yes.
01:18Who won't tell us what their plans are for Queensland health?
01:21Everyone cool your jets.
01:23New public hospital performance data has also been partially released, including the percentage
01:29of people left waiting on ambulance stretches for an ED bed for more than 30 minutes.
01:34But the LNP wanted to know why data on elective surgery waiting lists wasn't released too.
01:39This would be the first estimates hearing in some time that all of the data hasn't been
01:43released at once.
01:44It was not possible to do the thousands of points of data well before it is due for release.
01:51We focused on what I thought this committee would want to focus on and they will get the
01:54rest of the data in coming weeks when it is ready.