“Who’s got in her ear?”: Pauline Hanson launches scathing attack on Jacqui Lambie over drug testing
Controversial One Nation Leader Pauline Hanson has ruffled feathers again, after personally calling out Jacqui Lambie for removing her support for drug testing welfare recipients.
"No, I won't be supporting it, unless I can see the rehabilitation services and the services that these people need to kick their habit are actually set up. Which I am yet to see," Lambie said.
Hanson, after hearing that Lambie had backflipped on supporting the drug testing for welfare recipients, said that she’s surprised to hear that Lambie isn’t supporting this.
Why? Because Lambie’s son “has been on drugs”.
"Her child has been on drugs and you wouldn't knock back something that could possibly help people like her son," Ms Hanson said in parliament, according to news.com.au.
"Why is she knocking this back? Who's got in her ear?"
Lambie has since responded on Twitter, saying that her son Dylan defeated his addiction due to being able to access rehab services.
She tweeted saying the following:
“My son is an example of what happens when you have access to the support and rehab services you need. 500K Aussies don’t have access to those services. My son has moved on from the past, he can thank his 18 mths Teen Challenge in Toowoomba and the people of QLD for that.”
My son is an example of what happens when you have access to the support & rehab services you need. 500K Aussies don't have access to those services. My son has moved on from the past, he can thank his 18 mths @teenchallenge in Toowoomba & the people of QLD for that.#auspol
— Jacqui Lambie (@JacquiLambie) 10 September 2019
Lambie first referenced her son’s battle with drug addiction in parliament after she revealed she was desperate to help him.
"I am a senator of Australia, and I have a 21-year-old son who has a problem with ice," she said.
"I can't involuntarily detox my own son, because I'm not talking to my son anymore, I'm talking to a drug."
However, this candid moment from Lambie back in 2015 was used against her by Hanson, who also mentioned her son Dylan during an interview with Sky News.
"She should be the first one to say yes, yes I want it, because I want my child off drugs. So what is the issue here?" she said.
The government is currently pushing for a trial that would screen 5,000 Newstart and Youth Allowance recipients for drugs, quarantine the payments of those who test positive and organise rehabilitation services for them.
The Senate is currently trying to regain Lambie’s support by suggesting that those who do test positive for drugs could receive up to $65,000 worth of rehabilitation services, according to The Telegraph.
However, Lambie remains unmoved. Labor was also equally dismissive of the move by the Coalition.
"Every single health expert in the country tells them that they are wrong. This does not work. It will not assist people who are drug addicted,” said frontbencher Catherine King.
"What assists people who are drug addicted is proper services, not punishing them and sending them into dire poverty. That is what this government wants to do.
"It's all about punishing people on welfare. It is not about actually helping people with what is a substantial health problem."