FEDERAL Member for New England, Barnaby Joyce said the Federal Parliament this week passed historic legislation which delivers the missing piece to legally-grown medicinal cannabis treatment in Australia.

Welcoming the historic moment Mr Joyce paid tribute to the many patient advocates in the New England Electorate who played a key role in bringing this important issue to the attention of the nation.

“I had the opportunity to meet with Lucy Haslam on several occasions and admired the way she and her family as she and her late son Dan, campaigned for changes in this legislation,” Mr Joyce said.

“I was pleased to be able to write on their behalf, letters of representation to varying arms of government.

“This legislation clears the way for Australia’s State and Territory governments and companies to apply for a license to locally cultivate or manufacture medicinal cannabis products.

“It was always vital we had a clear national licensing system to ensure the integrity of crops for medicinal or scientific purposes, with the new laws enabling the Commonwealth to track the development of medicinal cannabis products from the farm to the pharmacy,” he said.

An independent Advisory Committee will now be established to oversee the next stage of the rollout of a national regulator now legislation has passed.

The legislation does not relate to the decriminalisation of cannabis for general cultivation or recreational use, which remains a law enforcement issue for individual states and territories.