FOR many politicians, just a few months out from an election, the ideal is to thump the drum on law and order, enthusiastically support police, increase sentences and lock up as many people as possible. The formula is tried and true across the developed world.

With the announcement of a needle and syringe program (NSP) for the ACT prison, Chief Minister Katy Gallagher has taken the opposite approach.

The perception is that the tougher politicians can be on crime and criminals the more support they will get. However, the electorate is getting tired of such tactics. The costs of keeping prisoners, the disproportionate burden worn by indigenous peoples, refugees and lower socio-economic groups, is making it clear that it is time to get smarter.

The announcement of the needle and syringe program is a big step in terms of public health. Although a number of other countries have demonstrated the success of such programs, this will be the first NSP in an English-speaking nation.
Gallagher has the support of the Greens.

The NSP will be managed in the context of a strategy to reduce the spread of blood-borne viruses.

The Australian Medical Association (ACT) was just one of more than a dozen health groups supporting the idea. The president, Dr Iain Dunlop, explained the importance of an NSP in the ACT prison in a submission to the Government last year:  “Prisoners and detainees have the same right to access, equity and quality of health care as the general population.

“Because prisoners will return to society after their imprisonment, their health is an issue of concern to the general population. The health of prisoners is also important for the occupational health and safety of the staff of correctional facilities”.

Most would agree that the ideal is to have no drugs in prison. However, as a community we cannot expect the impossible. No prison in the world has successfully excluded drugs. The prison officers will continue to monitor, search and seek out drugs where they can as they have been since the prison opened. Their efforts will minimise the amount of drugs in the Alexander Maconochie Centre.

Apart from the external politics, Gallagher has to also manage the union.  The prison warders have been voicing their objections to an NSP through the Community and Public Sector Union.  There are two ironies in the approach taken by the union. Firstly, despite technologically advanced searching equipment and a dedicated approach, the warders have been unsuccessful at keeping the drugs out of the prison. Secondly, an appropriately designed and controlled NSP should protect not only the health of the prisoners, but also reduce the risk to the prison officers.

Some will argue that this is an election ploy. I can’t see it!

If it were a ploy the Chief Minister would have announced the NSP when she was being grilled over the “data doctoring” at the hospital.

This would have moved that issue from the front page of the papers and moved the focus of the Canberra Liberals. She could also have waited until the Assembly was prorogued for the election. From a purely political perspective, it would be much wiser and a much better “ploy” to wait until after the election.

The decision to proceed with an NSP does provide an insight into Katy Gallagher. On this issue, the easiest thing for her to do was nothing.  Delay is a standard political tactic. She has been prepared to take a hard decision rather than a popular one. It is always easy for someone in her position to make decisions to support the strong, the wealthy, the influential and the powerful. However, prisoners are not a group that easily wins sympathy from the general community. They have been incarcerated for anti-social behaviour of one kind or another and gain little empathy.

There are no votes in prisoners’ welfare. However, it is just possible that this decision will demonstrate that the Chief Minister does have the spine to take action on what she believes to be right. Australia needs more leaders with this sort of spine.

Michael Moore was an independent member of the ACT Legislative Assembly (1989 to 2001) and was minister for health.  As CEO of the Public Health Association of Australia he was responsible for a report on an NSP in the Alexander Maconochie Centre in 2011.