Ms PATTEN: Just quickly on another matter, I was unable to attend the annual MardiGrass festival in Nimbin last weekend, but I did hear it was a great success and cannabis activists from around the country came together for a united call for action on drug law reform. I would like to make a…
Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (09:48): On Sunday I had the great pleasure of attending Change Our Game Celebrating Pride in Women’s Footy, and this was at the Mail Oval in Parkville. It was hosted by my team, the Fitzroy Football Club, and the Melbourne University Women’s Football Club. The pride celebration, lunch and game were…
Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (10:56): I too feel very privileged to rise here today in this historic setting of the Legislative Council’s sitting in Bright. I think it is really apt that we are here in this town named after John Bright, the radical and renowned British politician who sat in the House of…
Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (09:48): I would also like to make a comment about the WA election and congratulate my sister party the Legalise Cannabis Western Australia Party for winning their first seat in the Legislative Council in Western Australia. I very much look forward to working with them and sharing our knowledge. …
Ms PATTEN: On Monday I was so proud to be one of the tens of thousands of women who came together across the country for the Women’s March 4 Justice to say, ‘Enough’. It was an emotional day, but there was such a strong feeling of solidarity. We saw women from the second wave…
Ms PATTEN: I would also like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to Maria Spadaro, who died tragically after being struck by a car on Aberdeen Street in Reservoir on 16 February. She had lived in Reservoir since migrating from Italy in 1965. She is deeply missed and was a stalwart at the…
Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (09:49): Today I rise to congratulate the Penington Institute, Australia’s leading independent voice of reason on drug policy, on the launch of their new community and peer education campaign to address the evolving health risks faced by people who use drugs in the context of COVID-19. The campaign, delivered in…
Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (10:09): I rise today in support and praise of protesters from Stand Together for Justice and other groups who have been instrumental in helping gain the release of 26 refugees from detention here in Melbourne. These legal refugees spent a year in a hotel in Preston and many years prior to…
Ms PATTEN: I would also like to take this moment to thank everyone in the Council for what has been an incredibly difficult year. I hope that you all have some really good downtime over Christmas, over the holidays. Your communities will all be hoping to do the same. I hope that my community in…
Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (09:46): Last week I joined the member for Mildura, Ali Cupper, in her electorate to announce a new way of doing politics in Victoria. As is well understood, this house makes decisions that affect all Victorians, and I think we can all agree that it is good to have friends. Under…