Today Oliver Peterson spoke to Liberal Democrats Senator David Leyonhjelm about how he won’t be supporting the Government’s move to introduce mandatory drug testing for welfare recipients unless his amendments to include alcohol and a concentration threshold are adopted.

“If you want to smoke a joint instead of drinking, I think that’s a perfectly legitimate choice.

“It’s not the Government’s business to tell you what you should do in terms of your recreational pastimes.

“… [except] if it affects your ability to get and keep a job. But they’ve left alcohol out of this proposal.

“Alcohol can affect your ability to get and keep a job far worse than cannabis can.”

The Social Services Legislation Amendment (Drug Testing Trial) Bill 2018 seeks to introduce a pilot drug testing regime for Newstart and Youth Allowance recipients in a handful of places including Mandurah.

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