Parents in tears at North Richmond injecting room crisis meeting

Frustrated parents say recent experiences near Richmond’s injecting room show the situation has “gone from bad to worse”.

Drug use has been rife in Richmond outside the injecting room. Picture: Jason Edwards

Angry Richmond residents fed up with problems stemming from the controversial safe injecting room have demanded it be moved away from a local primary school.

Parents, residents and even some young children packed out the All Nation’s Hotel on Wednesday night, with many turned away due to COVID restrictions.

In the emotional meeting, parents – at times in tears – shared their experience of the area’s “escalating” crime, with multiple residents revealing their children had found needles.

Frustrations boiled last week after a man was found dead near the Richmond West Primary School, forcing the school authorities to direct students and parents away from a main entrance.

The Herald Sun also revealed Richmond West Primary School had been placed into lockdown twice in less than a week.

In one incident a man was caught inside the school grounds allegedly wielding a knife.

A man is arrested inside Rixhmond primary school grounds. Picture: Jason Edwards

Josie, who has lived in Richmond since 2012, told the assembled crowd the situation had “gone from bad to worse”.

The mother-of-two lives close to the school and her eldest child is due to start there next week.

“It’s a short walk from our home, but what a walk it is,” she said.

“In the past two weeks a line has been crossed. Our community‘s kids are not collateral damage.

“We do not send our kids to school (to learn) about death at the front gate.”

She said she had seen the impact on her kids first hand, who were scared by what they encounter in the street.

She accused the government of lying about what the community’s parents want.

“Over and over again, the government says the community supports … the location,” she said.

“It never made sense to me that parents would support the location.”

Parent Jo Murphy said her 10-year old son can walk down the street and differentiate between someone using ice or heroin based on their behaviour.

“He says ‘that one is heroin because he’s asleep,” she said.

“What 10 year-old child in another community could identify that?”

John, who supports relocating the room, said he had used heroin for 14 years and was “devastated” to hear parents’ stories.

But he urged them not to dismiss users’ lives, telling the crowd he grew up in “a normal family” and had seen people saved by the facility.

“The safe injecting room does work,” he said.

“I don’t think it’s in the right area but the amount of time I’ve used that place and seen people who need oxygen.

“That’s one less body in the street.”

Liberal Senator Georgie Crozier says the risk posed by the injecting room to kids is too great. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

Victorian Upper House MP Georgie Crozier appeared at the meeting and promised to raise residents’ concerns with parliament.

“The risk this raises for our children is too great,” she said.

“I agree, it’s disappointing your local members aren’t here.”

She also thanked John, who spoke up at the meeting about his experience as a user of the facility.

“That was really gutsy,” she said.

“I’m a former nurse … I’ve seen it first-hand and we all do care.”

A man is arrested inside Richmond primary school grounds. Picture: Jason Edwards

The crowd booed when a clip was played showing Health Minister Martin Foley telling parliament parents supported the location.

Organiser Dora Tsipouras said she has been bullied and intimidated by people trying to keep her silent.

“We care about the users, but we also care about our children,” she said.

“We want both to be safe.”

The crowd jeered after organiser’s revealed Martin Foley, James Merlino and local MP Richard Wynee had snubbed the event, despite being invited.

Ms Tsipouras vowed to keep fighting and said if politicians didn’t come to them, “we’ll come to you”.

“This is just the beginning,” she said. “They haven’t got the guts to be here.

“No other primary school, no other community should have to endure

what we’ve had to endure.”

Richmond Drugs

Mum Elena said her child, who has autism, doesn’t fully understand the dangers and she is terrified he will pick up a needle.

“This is my fear every day,” she said.

“He has a tendency to pick up stuff from the ground.

“He doesn’t understand … while he can’t get close to agitated people.

“I was there when we passed by the man who is sadly not with us anymore and I have to pretend it is normal.

“It is absolutely terrible feeling for me as human being that it is normal to pass a person laying on the ground, clearly unwell.

“I am scared he will have a psychotic break and jump on me and I won’t be able to protect my boys.”

Resident Chrissy, surname withheld, told the Herald Sun the community was “on edge” after last week’s shocking events.

“This is the first time parents from the school are really speaking up about this issue. They have been silenced for too long and they have had enough,” she said.

“We are coming together because the situation is critical and we want this room moved away from the school and residents, enough is enough.”

One parent, whose son had seen drug users injecting themselves in the school grounds and had seen several people overdosing nearby, said the meeting was “long overdue”.

“The school has now been in lockdown twice in less than a week, I’m genuinely scared for my child’s safety,” she said.

“I hope they can make this an urgent priority and move this room away from the school, we have a right to protect our children.”

A Department of Health spokeswoman last week told the Herald Sun: “With around one person a month dying from heroin overdose in the City of Melbourne, there is a real and growing need for a health facility of this kind in the central city.”

“The establishment of a second supervised injecting room was a key recommendation of the independent review panel, which identified the city as an area where a facility of this kind, with a new model of care, should be trialled,” the spokeswoman said.

Former Victoria Police chief commissioner Ken Lay has joined health and drug reform experts to lead the delivery of Melbourne’s second supervised injecting room.

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