Banks John: Psychoactive Substances Bill — In CommitteeText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeBanks John: Psychoactive Substances Bill — In Committee[Sitting date: 09 July 2013. Volume:692;Page:11791. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Hon JOHN BANKS (Leader—ACT):The original sponsor of this Psychoactive Substances Bill the Hon Peter Dunne said that it was not the intention to have these fun drugs—these mind-changing chemicals these Sunday afternoon recreational highs—tested on animals. If that is not the intention then let us put it in the bill by way of accepting Mojo Mathers’ Supplementary Order Paper 260. I do not think there is anyone in this Parliament who really believes in torturing animals. I do not think there is anyone in this Parliament who really wants to put any animal whether it is a mouse a rabbit or a beagle puppy to any pain or suffering. I do not believe there is anyone in this Parliament who is like that. I would be terribly surprised and disappointed if there was. But if we want to call this world-class legislation and if it was not the intention of the original sponsor of the bill—not my friend the Associate Minister of Health Todd McClay who is the Minister in the chair now but the original sponsor of the bill—to test these mind-changing drugs on animals let us put it in the bill and seal it up once and for all in the name of protecting those creatures that live with us in this world and cannot protect themselves.It was not so long ago that the EU said it would put an end to a generational regime of testing cosmetics on rabbits. Let me just give you the story on that. The reason rabbits are put on to gurneys and tested by cosmetic laboratories across the world—which is now banned in Europe—is because as you know rabbits do not blink so you can drip the chemicals into their eyes. The efficacy of cosmetics can be tested in terms of causes of harm to humans by dripping them with needles into the eyes of rabbits which do not blink. The EU said that this is palpably wrong it is a generation of maltreatment of these creatures and it was going to stop it.These animals that will be tested are growing puppies—beagle puppies are the animals of choice—mainly in countries like India and others in Asia where there is no standard of animal ethics whatsoever. I can recite chapter and verse where these places are and what is done in the name of testing drugs on animals at cut prices and cheap rates. I say to the drug dealers and the drug manufacturers that if you want or need to test these drugs on animals well we say do not bother. Do not bother; it is not needed. If you cannot prove your fun drug of choice is safe without putting animals into abject misery then you cannot sell your drug. You cannot sell your drug.I say to the Committee today that I condemn the use of these mind-altering substances on a Sunday afternoon by those of the fun-loving fraternity who think that it might be good to get high. But if they want to use these and if they are their drugs of choice well so they can but they should not subject animals—whether it be mice whether it be rats whether it be rabbits or whether it be puppies—to the testing of their safety. The reality is that the bill could well result in drugs being tested on animals in places like China and India where animal welfare is shamefully non-existent.Even worse these animals are man’s best friends. There is not one single member of this Parliament who will put up their hand right now and tell me that their much-loved puppy at home dog at home cat at home or rabbit at home would be available for the testing of these chemicals—the fun chemicals for a Sunday afternoon. There would not be one member who would say “My dog Fido would be a candidate for these people who want to take these drugs and want to test that they are safe.” Is there one person who would volunteer their poodle pup or more important their hapless little beagle pup which happens to be one of the best creatures ever invented? There is no reason to put animals to extreme pain. If we want this to be world-class legislation then this Parliament should take a step back and say that this afternoon we are going to put in place world-class legislation to test the safety of mind-altering chemicals for our young people but we are going to make sure that there is no possibility at all that animals will be used to test these substances. And we would go up in lights around the world.I care about young people and I say from this Parliament that we should not have young people taking these substances. But I care about animals their welfare and their rights just as much. I want to put on record today that I like animals quite a lot better than I like a lot of people. I feel it is my responsibility while I am here in this Parliament to get up and speak on behalf of those creatures that we live with together on this earth and that cannot speak on their own behalf.This afternoon this is not about animal testing for lifesaving cancer research. It is not about that. We have to tolerate that in some form although we do not like it and I have been fighting the torture of rhesus monkeys for the purposes of drug testing for years across the world. That is another story for another day. But we could have world-class legislation because the sponsoring Minister the original Minister the Hon Peter Dunne said: “It’s not our intention and it won’t be necessary on many occasions”—Shane Ardern: Most.Hon JOHN BANKS: Most occasions my friend and colleague for a long time says here—most occasions. Well on the occasions when it is not “most” why do we not say to the drug peddlers that no this is not a substance we are going to have because we want to be ethical we want to be world leaders we want to respect animals. But we want safety for our young kids with these mind-altering drugs and we can have that by accepting Mojo Mathers’ Supplementary Order Paper today.Finally I say this to my Green Party friends. Do what I am going to do. If this is defeated in this Parliament represent your credentials which are good on these issues. Represent your policies your philosophies and your concepts about animal protection and animal rights which are time-honoured in this House and say no to this bill in its entirety and take a stand because that is how I feel about this today. It is important that we in this Parliament clearly understand that we have a responsibility to protect animals at every turn at every corner on every day. We are sacrificing animals at the altar of recreational drug-use albeit in a minority albeit it is not our intention albeit it will not be often. Often is too often when it comes to sacrificing a beagle puppy.