NSW: Redfern needle van moved on but not replaced: inquiry

AAP General News (Australia)
08-02-2004
NSW: Redfern needle van moved on but not replaced: inquiry

SYDNEY, Aug 2 AAP - A NSW parliamentary inquiry has recommended the needle exchange
van be removed from Redfern's Block area and not replaced with any mechanism for dispensing
clean syringes.

The inquiry into the Sydney suburb found the van's location in a residential area near
a playground was inappropriate and it should be moved to a nearby industrial area.

But a draft recommendation from Labor chair Jan Burnswoods that the government consider
replacing the van with a needle vending machine was deleted from the interim report.

A recommendation from Democrat MLC Arthur Chesterfield-Evans that the site house a
supervised injecting room was likewise rejected by the majority of inquiry committee members.

The interim report handed down today also called on state, federal and local governments
to make significant financial contributions to the Aboriginal Housing Company's redevelopment
of the Block.

The upper house inquiry was formed following the February riots in the troubled suburb.

Its final report is due in November.

AAP jh/it/de

KEYWORD: BLOCK

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