GREG BARNS, February 15, 2010

TASMANIA'S politicians deserve an accolade for refusing to be drawn, into a law and order auction during the election campaign.

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Over the weekend, the Liberal Party announced it would develop Australia's first government-run early-intervention program for children who show signs of having an intellectual disability. The Liberals announced that they "have committed $4.5 million over four years to begin a staged, long-term and evidence-based approach to establishing early screening, diagnosis and early intensive treatment for children with autism".

This is excellent policy given that more than 70 per cent of those who are in the criminal justice system have autism or some other form of intellectual disability.

There is a real momentum now in this election campaign for Tasmania's political parties and their leaders to map out a vision that moves the state away from its too often awful history of treatment of the vulnerable people who end up coming to the attention of police and other authorities.

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see the original at http://www.themercury.com.au/article/2010/02/15/127971_tasmania-news.html