Parliament of Victoria | Legislative Council | Notices of Motion
13 November 2025
David ETTERSHANK (Western Metropolitan Region):
I give notice that, on the next day of meeting, I will move —
That this House notes that —
(1) the Allan Government’s regressive cannabis laws are ineffective and its rejection of the decriminalisation of cannabis will perpetuate far-reaching and harmful consequences for many of the most vulnerable Victorians and waste valuable police, court and prison resources on a victimless crime;
(2) at the 2025 Labor Party State Conference, Labor’s members voted that —
(a) cannabis be legalised, taxed, owned and regulated by the State Government;
(b) all forms of cannabis possession and use be decriminalised;
(3) Conference delegates resolved that —
(a) funds generated by a legalised cannabis industry could be used to fund —
(i) the recommendations from the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System;
(ii) the reform of the Alcohol and Other Drugs (AOD) sector;
(iii) the reform of WorkCover and WorkSafe;
(iv) health-led housing;
(v) Indigenous health;
(vi) part of the State’s contribution to the National Disability Insurance Scheme;
(b) a percentage of the profits generated by a regulated cannabis industry could be directed to the mental health, AOD, WorkCover, WorkSafe, housing, Indigenous health and disability sectors;
(4) this formalised a similarly unanimous resolution from the 2024 State Conference;
(5) the Allan Government’s refusal to decriminalise cannabis perpetuates the criminalisation of marginalised communities, including First Nations and working-class people, and lacks courage when its party’s policy platform goes far beyond decriminalisation;
and calls on the Government to heed its own party’s policy, beginning with the decriminalisation of the personal use and possession of cannabis.
