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Leader of the House Christian Rowan says he supports the Queensland government’s controversial move to squash pill testing despite previously backing the policy and responding to a heated backlash online that he was now bound by cabinet solidarity.
The LNP government introduced a last-minute amendment to an unrelated health bill last Thursday, effectively banning pill testing services in Queensland.
Member for Moggill Dr Christian Rowan, who in 2019 sponsored a petition calling on the Labor government to introduce a pill testing trial, was called out online for supporting the change.
Member for Moggill Dr Christian Rowan (left) with Premier David Crisafulli. Credit: Catherine Strohfeldt
One user noted Rowan’s backflip was particularly galling given he had worked as an addiction specialist who prescribed methadone and Suboxone – “harm-reduction tools, just like drug checking”, they wrote.
Rowan responded to the criticism by offering to discuss the government’s policy position in person.
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He also offered to discuss “the processes of cabinet solidarity and the Westminster system of government as well as views expressed which are a matter of the public record”, and shared a 2019 article by this masthead that reported his strong support for pill testing based on medical evidence.
In the article, Rowan was quoted as saying that while he did not condone drug use, pill testing should be considered.
“We need to be considering everything in every possible way that can be done to reduce the harms,” he said.
“We need to understand as legislators and as a community that within the comprehensive range of strategies to reduce harms, that we need to consider this [pill testing].”
Rowan added there was international evidence that pill testing had reduced harm, and said such services could be used alongside greater education and campaigns.
After his comments surfaced online, almost a week after voting with the LNP to ban pill testing, Rowan was asked by this masthead to confirm his position on drug-checking services.
He responded that a recent pill testing trial in Queensland found “there is no safe way to take illicit drugs”.
“The LNP made a commitment before the election and the Crisafulli government are honouring that promise,” he said.
“Unlike the Labor Party, we firmly believe governments should not support in any way the operations of illegal drug dealers.
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“The LNP has been overwhelmed by the support of Queenslanders who have welcomed the decision.”
Opposition health spokesperson Mark Bailey called the LNP’s amendment “one of the most cowardly acts” he had ever seen in parliament and singled out Rowan and Housing Minister Sam O’Connor for their backflip.
“We know that pill checking saves lives ... yet this callous government is willing to listen to ideology rather than evidence and push ideology instead of listening to doctors,” Bailey said during the late-night sitting in parliament last week.
“We know that other members on that side have advocated for pill checking, including the member for Bonney [O’Connor] and the member for Moggill.”
While in opposition, O’Connor had, like Rowan, called on the Labor government to investigate a pill testing trial in Queensland.
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