SUNITAFE Smart Farm
Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (18:02): My adjournment matter this evening is for Minister Tierney, and the action I seek—well, it is almost an invitation really, Minister—is for her to accompany me and my Reason coalition colleague, Ali Cupper, the member for Mildura, to SuniTAFE Smart Farm to see how the proposed $10 million investment in the facility will greatly enhance the operations.
I had the pleasure of visiting SuniTAFE Smart Farm last week, and it is located just outside the Mildura CBD. It is 31 hectares, and it is an incredible collaboration between a...
Edinburgh Gardens
Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan)
My adjournment matter is for the Treasurer.
The action I seek is for the government to immediately invest in toilet and rubbish bins at Edinburgh Gardens.
Edinburgh Gardens has become very popular as my constituents look to flock to have COVID-safe picnics with their friends.
‘COVID safe’ has meant outside. Young people in particular in my electorate love to flock to Edinburgh Gardens to enjoy a few drinks and catch up with their friends.
Edinburgh Gardens,...
Dame Phyllis Frost Centre
Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (22:48): The adjournment matter that I raise is to the Minister for Corrections, and the action I seek is for the minister to commit to extending the pilot program for the Dame Phyllis Frost Centre disability and complex needs team.
An audit of Victoria’s prisons in 2011 found that 33 per cent—a third—of all females in those prisons had been diagnosed with an acquired brain injury. In October I raised this issue with the minister at the time about the need to have more support for people with acquired...
Rescind COVID fines for young people
Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (21:06): My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Police and Emergency Services, and the action I seek is for the government to immediately rescind the COVID fines for people under the age of 18. We have implemented one of the strictest policing responses to COVID in the world, but unfortunately our policing is often plagued by a lack of transparency, racial bias is not monitored and our fine review system is onerous and difficult to navigate even for lawyers. Many people cannot afford to pay the amounts that we ask,...
Online offending
Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (16:23): My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Police and Emergency Services, and the action I seek relates to online offending. Right now in our society we are experiencing an exponential increase in vile threats, abuse and harassment commissioned online and via social media. We heard last week during the Senate estimates how actor Magda Szubanski has been subject to volumetric and coordinated attacks. I have spoken at length in this place in relation to the experience of female journalists, female sports stars and many others who are getting these...
Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission
Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (18:35): My adjournment matter is for the Treasurer, and the action I am seeking, along with probably many of my colleagues here but also the community, is for the Victorian government to increase IBAC’s funding in the next budget, and the increase needs to be by at least $10 million a year. In 2018–19 IBAC’s funding increased by $1.5 million. Goodness gracious! That is an increase of about 2.5 per cent after inflation. Unfortunately corruption in our community is not increasing with inflation; it is far more exponential than that. We have heard Robert...
Maternal and child health program standards
Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (18:15): My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Health, Mr Foley—and congratulations on his new appointment. The action I seek from the minister is to amend the maternal and child health program standards to remove the requirement for nurses—this is, child health nurses and adolescent health nurses—to be midwives. While I can understand the good intentions, it is creating real barriers for perfectly capable nurses fulfilling those roles that they are more than capable of completing. One nurse who wrote to me said this rationale is completely flawed. Yes, midwives will...
Rehabilitation facilities
Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan)
My adjournment matter tonight is for the Minister for Mental Health, Mr Foley, and the action I seek is for him to urgently review the amount of rehabilitation beds available to Victorians and commit to ensuring that more beds are brought into the system as soon as is possible.
Victoria’s specialist alcohol and other drug treatment services are overwhelmed.
Forty thousand Victorians currently access treatment services each year, yet there are almost that many waiting for a place.
And whilst...
Small business tenancies
Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan): My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Consumer Affairs, Gaming and Liquor Regulation, and the action I seek is that the government review the Retail Leases Act 2003 in consultation with small business tenants and their landlords to find equitable ways for businesses affected by COVID-19 to terminate or renegotiate leases.
My office has been inundated with calls and emails for help from small business owners throughout my electorate. They have been thankful for the government grants and the instructions to landlords to waiver and defer...
Justices of the Peace & Bail Justices
Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan): My adjournment matter tonight is directed to the Attorney-General and regards justices of the peace and bail justices.
The services JPs provide on a volunteer basis are incredibly important to the community, and we must ensure these services continue to be available during this time.
From what I understand, the Royal Victorian Association of Honorary Justices, the Law Institute of Victoria and the Department of Justice and Community Safety have been working together to provide appropriate guidelines and keep JPs well informed during the pandemic.