Rosalie Woodruff MP | Greens Health spokesperson
Minister Ferguson has put his personal ideology in the way of preventive health measures in this year's Budget.
The Health Minister told the Estimates Committee today that value for money and targeting vulnerable people were the basis for determining whether preventative health services were funded.
Clearly the Minister doesn't regard sex workers or young festival goers who experiment with drugs as vulnerable people deserving protection.
The funding to Scarlet Alliance to run the Sex Worker Project has been going for over a decade and according to the Department had met all their targets.
Defunding a service and blaming it on your department is not the behaviour of a strong and responsible Minister.
Pill testing at festivals is a simple way of keeping young people safe, and can help prevent hospitalisation and sometimes death. It’s the new frontier in harm minimisation, and is widely supported among medical professionals.
Michael Ferguson's decision that sex workers and young experimenters don't warrant health investment is an indictment on his already troubled term as Minister for Health.