David Littleproud says the ‘genie’s out of the bottle’ while Adam Bandt says Greens don’t support ‘prohibition model’ for other drugs
The Australian government may face a fight on its plan to all but ban vaping, with the Nationals and Greens both raising concerns about a “prohibition” approach in legislation to be introduced to parliament this week.
The Greens leader, Adam Bandt, also raised doubts about a prohibition model but stressed his party was coming to the issue from a “completely different position” to the Nationals, saying instead his colleagues wanted more focus on harm minimisation. Several Nationals MPs, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Guardian Australia that members of their party room had raised concerns about proposed enforcement in the government’s anti-vaping legislation. One member spoke of a convenience store in their Queensland electorate, which was known to sell illegal vapes, operating largely without scrutiny from a police station on the same street.
At a press conference, Littleproud said he was “not afraid to have different positions to the Liberal party”, claiming the Nationals’ party room was “unanimous” in its support for their vaping policy. “It’s important that we live by our lived experience and our principles and values,” he said. “We got this wrong on prohibition. It’s time to admit it. It’s time to move on.”Littleproud said the Nationals were considering amendments to the government’s bill, to be introduced on Thursday, which would outlaw the sale and supply of vaping products without a prescription.
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