Face of Nation : Questions have been raised over drug testing for Victorian MPs, following a state MP’s outburst in a Canberra hotel. The drug testing policy proposal for Victorian MPs failed to get approval, after being rejected by parliament in 2014, Victorian premier Daniel Andrews said. He said a drug testing policy for MPs was put in place, but didn’t get agreement within the parliament.
“Our commitment was to send this off to a committee and to properly examine it in the hope that we could build a bipartisan consensus. Not just for parliament I might add, it was for magistrates and judges also,” he told reporters. The policy, however failed to get cross-party agreement, with presiding officers disagreeing to the procedure.
The Burwood MP flew into a rage last week and smashed the lower half of a door at the Abode Hotel in an argument with staff about his luggage. Mr Fowles on Friday apologised for damaging the hotel door, admitting to having issues.
“I have, for a long time, been dealing with addiction and other mental health issues,” he said in a statement. Mr Fowles said the outburst occurred because he wasn’t able to access medication inside his luggage. “I will take a leave of absence to properly deal with my health issues,” he said.
