Legalise Cannabis WA MP Dr Brian Walker has taken aim at the federal government for refusing to acknowledge the economic case for adult-use cannabis legalisation, as Australia faces a A$27 billion budget shortfall.
Dr Walker directed his criticism at what he described as the "pig-headed intransigence of the federal government" after it helped vote down Greens Senator David Shoebridge's Legalising Cannabis Bill 2023 in November.
"Late last month, we watched the Labor and Liberal parties vote down a proposal to legalise cannabis in the federal senate," Dr Walker said.
"Today (Wednesday), we've seen the treasurer, Dr Jim Chalmers, hand down a budget update which puts Australia $27bn in the red, and predicts 10 years of budget deficits to follow."
Dr Walker pointed to his 'Missing Budget Paper', tabled in the WA Parliament in 2023, which projected a $1.25 billion boost to the state budget over four years if cannabis were legalised for adult use in Western Australia.
"Those aren't my figures," he said. "They are figures produced by a respected economist from UWA's School of Business, and they come complete with all the equations and workings necessary to scale our local findings up to a national level.
"With just over 10% of the Australian population resident in Western Australia, it isn't difficult to see how national legalisation of cannabis could easily net the federal government $12.5bn in one hit.
"And that's from legal consumption and taxation alone. It doesn't even begin to look at the flow-on to the economy from a burgeoning hemp industry, free of its current regulatory shackles.
"With ordinary Australians crying out for mortgage relief from the central bank, and cost of living relief in general from the federal government, can we really afford to throw good money after bad by refusing to reclassify and legalise cannabis, if our economy is going to take such a hit?"
"I was going to send Dr Chalmers a lump of coal for Christmas. After all, since May 2022, the Albanese Labor government has approved seven new coal mines or expansions, with 1,513 million tonnes of lifetime emissions," Dr Walker added.
"Instead, I think I'll gift wrap a copy of the Missing Budget Paper, and courier it to Canberra in time for Christmas. Perhaps the treasurer can read it over the break, and hopefully learn something from it."
