Legalise Cannabis Western Australia Party

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

The party proposed in June of 2022 to allow 50mg of marijuana to every West Australian, as well as the ability to grow four plants. It was rejected by then Premier Mark McGowan.[2]

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 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.

In the 2023 Rockingham state by-election the party received its highest percentage vote in its history, reaching 6.80% of votes (1,487 votes total) beating the Greens candidate at the election, making it the 3rd most popular party at the election.[3][4]

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.[5][6]

Moermond also gained controversy for speaking at a rally outside the Parliament of Western Australia in March 2023. Moermond's speech, later posted on her Facebook, said she was "concerned about the rejection of science for ideology" in relation to transgender issues. The rally was in support of, and attended by, anti-transgender activist Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull.[7][8]

These comments were later disowned by the only other West Australian Legalise Cannabis MP Dr Brian Walker with him calling them transphobic and stating they were not a part of the party. The 2 Victorian Legislative Council Legalise Cannabis MPs released a joint statement stating that Moermond's comments were not representative of the broader party "or its representatives."[9]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Should WA loosen its control of medicinal cannabis prescriptions? Here are the arguments". 30 December 2020.
  2. ^ Ramsey, Michael (21 June 2022). "McGowan snuffs out WA legalised cannabis plan". WAtoday. Retrieved 5 February 2024.
  3. ^ "Legalise Cannabis Party on a high after Rocko by-election". The West Australian. 8 August 2023. Retrieved 5 February 2024.
  4. ^ West Australian Electoral Commison. "2023 Rockingham By-election Results".
  5. ^ 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.
  6. ^ Kruijff, Peter de (15 February 2022). "Politician suspended from WA Parliament for not providing vaccination status". WAtoday. Retrieved 5 February 2024.
  7. ^ "Protestors outnumber supporters at Kellie-Jay Keen Perth event". OUTInPerth | LGBTQIA+ News and Culture. 14 March 2023. Retrieved 5 February 2024.
  8. ^ "Peter Foster highlights Trans Day of Visibility in WA parliament". OUTInPerth | LGBTQIA+ News and Culture. 2 April 2023. Retrieved 5 February 2024.
  9. ^ 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)
Stub icon

This article about an Australian political party is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.