An independent Tasmanian MP has pleaded guilty to drug driving after failing a roadside test on a fishing trip.
Craig Garland, 60, was elected to Tasmania’s parliament in March 2024 and holds a crucial balance-of-power position on the crossbench.
Garland appeared in Burnie Magistrates Court on Thursday, charged with driving a motor vehicle while a prescribed illicit drug was present in his oral fluid.
The charge relates to a positive test in early November in the state’s northwest.
He previously told AAP he returned a positive result from a tongue-scrape test on his way to go fishing after smoking cannabis the night prior.
Garland said he used cannabis on-and-off for pain relief, particularly for the ongoing effects of a broken leg, but didn’t have a medical prescription.
“I’ve smoked for quite a long time. I didn’t leave it long enough before I drove, but I didn’t think it would be a problem,” he said in November.
“I’m not driving around whacked up or pissed. I guess you put it down to bad timing and bad management.”
Garland will next face court for sentencing on September 15.
Despite the charge, he is still campaigning for re-election at the July 19 snap election, which was triggered after a no-confidence motion passed against the state’s minority Liberal premier.
Opinion polling suggests the Liberals and Labor face an uphill battle to win enough seats to form a majority government, which could again give Garland a powerful crossbench position.