Former politician who declined to back pill testing announced as NSW drug summit co-chair

A former politician who previously declined to back pill testing will lead NSW’s upcoming drug summit, as fears grow ahead of the festival season.

A former NSW Liberal leader who previously declined to back pill testing will co-chair the NSW drug summit as experts share their fears the state will go into another festival season with no action.

John Brogden and former Labor deputy premier Carmel Tebbutt will lead the highly anticipated drug summit as experts lobby for drug reform across the state.

Mr Brogden told the Sydney Morning Herald in 2016 that he didn’t back a pill testing trial, claiming support could make it easier for non-dependent drug users to consume drugs.

However, experts have long been calling for pill testing to be trialled in NSW.

Harm Reduction Australia president Gino Vumbaca said he was not worried about Mr Brogden’s previous comments but “very concerned” about heading into another festival season without pill testing.

“We talk with parents who have lost kids at festivals … we don’t want to see that replicated,” Mr Vumbaca said.

John Brogden declined to back pill testing in 2016. Picture: NewsWire / Flavio Brancaleone

Carmel Tebbutt will co-chair the NSW drug summit. Picture: NewsWire / Nikki Short

Two men died following suspected drug overdoses after attending the Knockout music festival in Sydney last year, while there were also nine urgent medical transfers to hospital from the event.

The NSW government is believed to have declined the offers of Harm Reduction Australia to run free pill testing trials at music festivals across the state leading up to the drug summit despite trials being a success in the ACT and Queensland.

“We have offered numerous times to run a free trial leading up to the summit, and we continue to make that offer so that when the people attend the summit, whoever that may be, we can give them our report … the government can appoint an independent evaluator, if they prefer, to actually assess how the program operated,” Mr Vumbaca said.

“We’re very confident, we’ll do it for free … You tell us when and where you want us to do it, and we’ll do it. We’ve got everything lined up — people, equipment, everything — but we just can’t get the OK.”

Harm Reduction Australia president Gino Vumbaca says he's 'very concerned' heading into another festival season without pill testing in NSW. Picture: Supplied.

Harm Reduction Australia has offered to run pill testing trials in NSW for free. Picture: Supplied.

The drug summit is set to begin on November 1 in Griffith before a hearing in Lismore on November 4.

There will also be two additional days in Sydney in December.

However, Mr Vumbaca has slammed the timing of the summit, as festival season will be well and truly under way by the time hearings begin.

“A lot of us are concerned that you have the summit in December, so when’s the report likely to come out, and when’s the government response likely to come out to that report?” he said.

“When are we actually going to see any policy reform or programs introduced as a result of the summit?

“Another whole festival season would have passed with no pill testing again in NSW.”

Mr Vumbaca also questioned why a pill testing trial needed to wait until after a drug summit, given evidence gathered by Harm Reduction Australia following trials in Queensland and Canberra found pill testing reduced the amount of drugs consumed by individuals, and people were less likely to take a drug if it was proved to be different to what they thought it was.

“With pill testing, the evidence is pretty clear. You don’t need to have a summit to introduce pill testing. It’s operating already in two other jurisdictions and a third coming up in Victoria,” he said.

NSW Health Minister Ryan Park said Ms Tebutt and Mr Brogden would bring “a wealth of experience” to the drug summit, as they both had a “deep understanding of the sensitivity and complexity of issues that will be canvassed at the summit”.

“They both bring experience of being in public office and working with communities to find solutions to complex issues,” Mr Park said.

“Taking the summit to regional areas like Lismore and Griffith is integral because we know that drug use impacts communities in many different ways.

“The drug summit will bring people together to find new ways forward to tackle this incredibly complex and difficult problem.”

Mr Brogden said the summit would listen to both professionals and the community.

“Ultimately, we want to save more lives,” Mr Tebutt said.