Ann Bressington

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Ann Bressington is an Australian politician. She was elected to the South Australian Legislative Council at the 2006 South Australian election as Nick Xenophon's running mate on his independent No Pokies ticket. Her election was a surprise as it was not expected that two people on the ticket would be elected.

Bressington was the Founder and CEO of DrugBeat South Australia, a drug treatment and rehabilitation centre. DrugBeat was founded before the 1998 death of her 22-year-old daughter Shay-Louise from a heroin overdose two days before moving to Adelaide for treatment.[1] (She resigned from DrugBeat following her election to the Legislative Council, in order to avoid any potential conflict of interest over DrugBeat funding).

In early 2006 she introduced legislation to State Parliament that would make the sale of "drug taking equipment" illegal,[2] The definition of drug-using paraphernalia (pipes, bongs, waterpipes and cocaine kits) was prescribed in her bill.

In August 2006, she announced that she would propose a bill to Parliament which, if passed, would enforce random twice-annual drug tests of every South Australian school student from year 8 to year 12. A Bill was put out for public consultation which has been misrpresented in the media as the "final draft". This bill was amended after the consultation process with students, parents, teachers and other politicians. When introducing her bill, she warned parents to "watch closely who opposes the measure ... it will be an indication of who is soft on drugs".[3] Dr. David Caldicott, a toxicologist and research fellow of the Royal Adelaide Hospital's Emergency & Trauma Department, slammed the proposed bill as "ludicrous", whilst the South Australian branch of the Education Union has stated their opposition to the bill.[4] However, she stated that the response from parents has been "overwhelmingly positive and supportive".[5]

On August 30, 2006, Bressington discussed the possibility of introducing a Bill in South Australia to raise the legal drinking age from 18 to 21.[6] That bill has not been introduced.

After Xenophon resigned from state parliament to pursue federal parliament, Bressington lashed out at him during the joint sitting, questioning his integrity and suitability for federal parliament.[7][8] Bressington claims Xenophon demanded she contribute $50,000 towards his campaign expenses (for which Bressington had to take out a loan out), mismanaged campaign funds, implied that he had made requests to State Treasury for illegal funding, and that she was ignored by Xenophon once she entered parliament. Xenophon denies these claims. Bressington also questioned why Xenophon had avoided the media scrutiny that other Politicians are subjected to, alluding that many of his core 'anti-politician' promises warranted further investigation.[9][10][11]

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[edit] References

  1. ^ Shay Louise House. Drugbeat (2006).
  2. ^ On sale in city shop window. Adelaide Advertiser (11-Aug-2006).
  3. ^ MPs want drug test for teens. Critical Times (17-Aug-2006). Retrieved on 2007-11-07.
  4. ^ Toxicologist dismisses school drug testing proposal. Australian Broadcasting Corporation (17-Aug-2006).
  5. ^ MP steps up push for school drug testing. Adelaide Advertiser (31-Jan-2007).
  6. ^ Raise drink age to 21. Adelaide Advertiser (31-Aug-2006).
  7. ^ Nick Xenophon's running mate unleashes extraordinary attack: The Advertiser
  8. ^ MPs stunned by Xenophon blast: ABC
  9. ^ Ally derails Xenophon's dream run: The Australian
  10. ^ Big blow for Mr X: The Advertiser
  11. ^ Debating the merits of a relic: The Advertiser

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