In this episode i speak with David one of the two cannabis representatives for the Australian cannabis party in the Victorian Parliament.
We discuss medical cannabis & driving, a new workplace bill they’ve just tabled as well as the aims of the Australian Cannabis party nationally..
Amongst other topics we discuss.
- How to regulate “industry” medical cannabis and hemp and develop a regulated adult use industry
- Medical cannabis imports
With regard to the new workplace legislation David posted the following to linked in 30 Aust 2024
The Workplace Drug Testing Inquiry is now complete and its final report has been delivered to parliament.
As reflected in the evidence presented to the committee, the report recommends that drug testing should not be imposed randomly at work.
The need for workers rights to be treated with respect, and for Alcohol and Other Drug policies and practices to be supportive and agreed with workers and their unions was clearly asserted.
We’ll have more to say about the report in coming days.
Our sincere thanks to all who participated in the inquiry and to our wonderful secretariat, who ensured everything ran smoothly.
David Ettershank & Rachel Payne & the printed workplace drug testing in Victoria.. fingers crossed!
David Ettershank Member for Western Metropolitan Region Victoria
Prior to entering Parliament, with qualifications in Asian Studies and Industrial Relations, David worked in a range of training and industrial officer roles in Queensland, the Northern Territory, Victoria and nationally. In 2002, he co-founded Outcomes Plus, a consulting firm supporting not-for-profit aged care providers with strong links in specialist, CALD and regional services.
As a long time community activist in Melbourne inner-west, David has been active in a range of campaigns including against the East-West tunnel, against inappropriate development and many to enhance or protect local amenity and services. He also served for 7 years on the Community Reference Group for the redevelopment of the Kensington Public Housing Estate working closely with local CALD community and tenants’ representatives. In addition, as a long-term cannabis consumer, David is determined to see it legalised, destigmatised and its many benefits recognised. When invited to stand for Legalise Cannabis Victoria, David was delighted to have the opportunity to work in the parliamentary sphere.
David’s passions and priorities as a Member of Parliament are:
- Reform of cannabis laws and capitalising on the opportunities that the cannabis economy can bring to Victorians.
- Decisive action on climate change and adaption.
- Implementation of the Uluru Statement from the Heart including Voice, Treaty and Truth Speaking.
- Ensuring equal rights and respect for Women, LGBTIQ+ and first nations Victorians.
- Reform of the Victorian approach to planning and development.
- Action on affordable and sustainable housing and tenancy rights.
- Ensuring appropriate support for people with a disability and protecting and reforming the NDIS.
- Improving access to quality health and aged care services including tackling chronic workforce issues.
Committee memberships
- Participating, Legislative Council Economy and Infrastructure Committee since March 2024
- Participating, Legislative Council Legal and Social Issues Committee since March 2023
- Deputy Chair, Legislative Council Environment and Planning Committee since February 2023
- Member, Dispute Resolution Committee since February 2023
- Member, Electoral Matters Committee since February 2023
- Member, Legislative Council Environment and Planning Committee February 2023 – February 2023
Speech
David ETTERSHANK (Western Metropolitan) (15:55): President, I congratulate you on your election. It is a role I know you will discharge with fairness, professionalism and good humour.
I acknowledge the traditional owners of the land on which we meet today, the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin nation. I pay my respects to their elders past, present and emerging, and I record that sovereignty has never been ceded.
I thank the voters of the Western Metropolitan Region, who have bestowed upon me the honour of representing them in this Legislative Council. I will strive daily to reward their faith in electing me. The Western Metropolitan Region is an area of great cultural diversity and richness and also extraordinary growth and challenges. I will return to this issue.
I wish to sincerely thank the many volunteers and candidates who worked so hard to secure the first two Legalise Cannabis members of this Parliament. My special thanks to Craig Ellis, our campaign director; our federal management committee; my colleague Rachel Payne, who worked so hard to pull the party and the campaign together; my running mate, the nuclear-powered Raffaela Menta; and the indomitable Tony Verde, who daily refuses to let his Parkinson’s define his life and inspires us all. I would also like to express my appreciation to Fiona Patten, who blazed a reformist trail over the past eight years and has been incredibly generous in sharing her time, passion and wisdom.
I am advised that it is customary to share something of our lives and history at this time to illustrate some of the experiences and values we bring to this chamber, so here goes. My life fits neatly into roughly three 20-year parts. I was born into a very comfortable white middle-class household living here in Melbourne and abroad. At the age of 14, circumstances, litigational bastardry and shortfalls in the family law system at that time saw our fortunes reversed, and my mother, sister and I were introduced to a world of social disadvantage as we took shelter with my paternal grandmother in south-east Queensland. From this I learned a lifelong lesson: that the law can be used as a cudgel. It is neither accessible nor equitable for all, and one must never confuse the law with justice or fairness.
At 15 I started working part time at Coles, and I have worked continuously for the last 48 years. I was blessed to have two formidable matriarchs as my grandmothers. These women were born in poor working-class situations in Britain, migrated to Australia to find a better life and pretty much lived the Australian postwar dream. My maternal grandfather was a master bricklayer and a shop steward and life member of the building workers union. He was also an aspiring communist, but his ambition was frustrated by my grandmother, who would simply say, ‘Don’t be silly, Charles. That will never happen.’ I still remember fondly my grandfather covertly passing me political texts as though they were copies of Playboy with the words, ‘For God’s sake don’t tell your grandmother I gave you this.’ Throughout my life I have been blessed to have strong and intelligent women shape my thinking and my practices, and I am a better person for that.
My political puberty was during the reign of Queensland Premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen, who led a profoundly corrupt and gerrymandered state government. In the late 1970s what started as a campaign opposing uranium mining evolved into the right-to-march struggle. Like many other activists at the time, I racked up a dozen arrests and a few thorough beatings at the hands of the Queensland police. Following in the wake of the Vietnam War movement and ongoing opposition to apartheid, these times forged a generation of activists. We learned firsthand about the coercive power of the state but more importantly about the power of people who organise and collaborate to resist and to achieve change. This shaped my next 20 years, with a decade in the Communist Party of Australia and two decades working in the trade union movement. The CPA introduced me to extraordinary people who had struggled to improve our society for decades, often against incredible odds but who fought on nonetheless. I will be forever grateful to those comrades who introduced me to the concepts of race, gender and class. They challenged me to think critically and strategically and to organise and to fight.
Read full speech at
https://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/members/david-ettershank/
https://davidettershank.com.au/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-ettershank-mp/?originalSubdomain=au
