Fiona Patten at Parliament House in Melbourne. Photo: Julian Kingma
Three years into her career as a “mainstream” politician, it seems Fiona Patten’s time has come. Well, her ideas, anyway. Marriage equality, medicinal cannabis, legislative protection for women visiting abortion clinics, safe drug-injecting rooms, all issues Patten has long been vocal and passionate about, and are either already law or at the centre of the conversation.
The Upper House MP and leader of Victoria’s Reason Party – known more colorfully as the Australian Sex Party until last year – has been a thought-leader and agitator on issues that once may have struggled for cut-through but are now well in the mainstream. It seems the community and the parliament has caught up.
“A lot of people say I have nudged them,” Patten says. “It’s been more the politicians than the people (who needed urging). The people have been ready for change. Same-sex marriage survey – a perfect example where the community had already moved on and we couldn’t get our parliament to move on.
“Medicinal cannabis – our community has moved on. They want access to it, yet the politicians are still resisting it. Having people like me in here enables that voice to be heard possibly in a more effective way.”
We are having coffee in the Strangers’ Dining Room at Parliament House. Patten is as natural and unaffected as on her arrival here in 2014, fresh from her lobbying days with the Eros organisation. The only change is a realisation that making laws means compromise, and she’s fine with that.
“In some areas being in parliament has tempered me,” she says. “Where I would have aimed for here (points high), I’m really happy to reach here (lower). It’s about not letting the perfect get in the way of the good. I seem to say that every day these days.
“When I put up the safe access zone private members bill I think I thought, ‘I’ll put up a bill and everyone will vote for it and it will become a law’. Of course, governments don’t like other people making the laws while they’re in government.” She sees her role as “presenting solutions for governments to adopt”. ABC broadcaster Jon Faine has referred to Patten as “without doubt, Australia’s most effective legislator”.
Patten says: “I have put up three private members bills and they have all become law. Safe access zones – creating 150-metre zones around abortion clinics – the ride-sharing bill to regulate Uber, and the supervised injecting centre bill.”
She was disappointed at discussion and a government backflip around which drugs would be allowed in the safe injecting rooms, which opened in North Richmond last month.
“The objective was, ‘We don’t care what you’re injecting, in fact, we don’t even know what you’re injecting because you don’t even know. You’re buying it from some dude on the street. You have no idea what you’ve got.’ The premise was to keep people who are injecting safe. And it didn’t matter what they injected. (And) how do you police that? Are you going to test the drugs as people come in? There are hundreds of safe injecting rooms around the world and people use all sorts of substances in those centres and the objective is to keep them safe.”
The centre opened metres from a primary school, which caused some negative responses.
“I am delighted it has the full support of the school,” she says. “Putting this close to a school where the needle-exchange program has been for decades, where people are injecting in the streets, is actually going to increase the safety for that school.
“We looked at lots of different locations as to where to put it, but you’ve got to put it where the use is happening.”
Patten says her biggest surprise about politics was the strong level of camaraderie. “I think I looked at it like question time. Right from the start I realised it was quite different. I don’t think I fully understood the intimacy of the Legislative Council – it’s 40 people. It’s like a big classroom. Not surprisingly, you spend a lot of time with them.”
She says one day she was asked to head to a high-level meeting. “I went in and there were five women in there from all parties, saying, ‘OK, what can we do to make sure we protect abortion laws in Victoria from any attack?’ We sat down and worked really well together. I went on to introduce the safe access zone legislation and I had great support from around the chamber.”
Fiona Patten in 2016 celebrating the safe access zone laws passing. Photo: Penny Stephens
Patten also realised quickly the power she had. “I don’t think I fully appreciated the position that I had, that my vote was necessary and that I would quite often be the deciding vote on legislation. That gives you some power but also an incredible responsibility. We have to be across every piece of legislation. “In our office we are across everything because our vote is often critical.”
Patten was also deeply involved in the assisted dying legislation, whereby in November, Victoria became the first Australian state to legalise voluntary assisted dying. She says playing a role in developing the policy that went on to become law was the greatest privilege she’d had.
I asked Patten about the story that has swept the world – the “#Metoo” movement. “Overall, it has changed us for the good,” Patten says. “As women we are a lot more conscious that we can speak out. We know that the under-reporting of sexual assault is enormous. It’s the notion that there is a voice.
“On a much smaller side, I think it sometimes has confused us as to what is correct social behaviour. I’ve spoken to male friends who say, ‘I don’t know whether I’m allowed to hug someone any more’.
“It’s not necessarily a bad thing, but I do think it’s created some confusion as to what is appropriate behaviour, and we need to muddle our way through.
“I think we are still getting to the uncomfortable bits of that. It’s very easy to talk about the Weinsteins and the Rolf Harrises.
“It’s when we start putting it back into the familiar area – we know that most assaults and poor behaviour against women happens in the home, but we don’t like to talk about that. We like to talk about workplace, stranger danger and the very tragic death of Eurydice Dixon.
“We need to be educating our men from a very young age. We do not need to be telling our women they can’t walk home at night.”
