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Legalise Cannabis Western Australia Party

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Legalise Cannabis Western Australia Party
AbbreviationLCWA
PresidentFred Mulholland
SecretaryAaron Cross
FoundedJune 2020
IdeologyLegalisation of cannabis
National affiliationLegalise Cannabis Australia
Legislative Council
2 / 36
City of Rockingham
1 / 13
Website
lcwaparty.org.au

The Legalise Cannabis Western Australia Party (LCWA) is a political party registered in Western Australia. The party advocates for law reform in relation to cannabis.[1]

History

The LCWA party is the sister party of the LCQ party and affiliate of the HEMP Party and Medical Cannabis Users Association of Australia (MCUA).

Following in the success of its sister party LCQ in the 2020 Queensland state election the Party was registered by the Western Australian Electoral Commission on 29 January 2021 to contest the 2021 Western Australian state election, at which two of its candidates – Brian Walker in East Metropolitan Region and Sophia Moermond in South-West Region – were elected to the Western Australian Legislative Council.

In February 2022, MPs from Legalise Cannabis Western Australia were the only elected representatives in the Western Australian Legislative Council to vote against imposing vaccine mandates on MPs. One of the party's MPs, Sophia Moermond, who had described the mandates as "medical apartheid", was subsequently suspended from parliament under the new rules.[2][3]

Policies

The Party's policies are around the personal, medical and industrial uses of cannabis.

In particular, the Party believes:[citation needed]

  • That government should legalise cannabis and introduce enlightened regulations around its supply and consumption
  • That a hemp and cannabis industry should be developed and encouraged
  • That indigenous participation in the industry should be encouraged and subsidised
  • That access to medicinal cannabis should be easier and low cost
  • That cheap testing of cannabis products by labs and scientists be facilitated
  • That criminal convictions for possession of cannabis should be expunged

Electoral results

The party fielded candidates for the first time in the 2021 Western Australian state election and received two seats in the Legislative Council with the fifth largest number of votes (26,818) by party behind the Nationals. The party fielded a limited number of candidates in the Legislative Assembly and received 4,996 votes.

Controversies

One of the parties elected members, Sophia Moermond, has attained controversies for her views. She describes vaccination mandates as "medical apartheid" and denies the science behind the vaccines. She was additionally suspended from parliament for refusing to get vaccinated in 2022.[2][4]

Sophia also gained controversy for speaking at a rally outside the Parliament of Western Australia in march of 2023. Sophia's speech - later reprinted on her Facebook - Sophia said she was "concerned about the rejection of science for ideology". The rally was in support of, and attended by anti-transgender activist Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull.[5][6]

These comments were disowned by the only other Legalise Cannabis WA MP Dr Brian Walker with him calling them transphobic and stating they were not apart of the party. The 2 Victorian Legislative Council Legalise Cannabis MPs released a joint statement stating that Sophia's comments were not representative of the broader party "or its representatives."[7]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Should WA loosen its control of medicinal cannabis prescriptions? Here are the arguments". 30 December 2020.
  2. ^ a b Zimmerman, Josh (16 February 2022). "MP Sophia Moermond warns vaccine mandates are 'medical apartheid', will end in violence". The West Australian. Retrieved 13 March 2022.
  3. ^ Carmody, James (15 February 2022). "Legalise Cannabis MP Sophia Moermond suspended from WA parliament over vaccine mandate". ABC News. Retrieved 13 March 2022.
  4. ^ Kruijff, Peter de (15 February 2022). "Politician suspended from WA Parliament for not providing vaccination status". WAtoday. Retrieved 5 February 2024.
  5. ^ "Protestors outnumber supporters at Kellie-Jay Keen Perth event". OUTInPerth | LGBTQIA+ News and Culture. 14 March 2023. Retrieved 5 February 2024.
  6. ^ "Peter Foster highlights Trans Day of Visibility in WA parliament". OUTInPerth | LGBTQIA+ News and Culture. 2 April 2023. Retrieved 5 February 2024.
  7. ^ Australia, 6 News (20 March 2023). "Legalise Cannabis MPs distance themselves from Sophia Moermond over 'Let Women Speak' rally comments | 6NewsAU". 6 News Australia. Retrieved 5 February 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
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