Clergy Mandatory Reporting
Aug 9, 2018
MS PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (21:14:49) — My adjournment matter is for the Attorney-General, and the action I seek relates to clergy mandatory reporting. On 11 July 2018, this government released its response to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, indicating:
The Victorian government will give further consideration to the key recommendation that mandatory reporting laws should not exempt people in religious ministry from being required to report information disclosed in a religious confession.
In my question without notice on this topic on 27 July 2018 I highlighted evidence from the royal commission, including that of Father Michael McArdle, who admitted that he...
Poker machines
Jul 27, 2018
MS PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (15:14:18) — My adjournment matter today is for Minister for Consumer Affairs, Gaming and Liquor Regulation. The action I seek relates to the electronic gambling figures that were released today by the Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation.
Last year saw the biggest increase in spending on Victorian poker machines for the last decade. Spending on poker machines has now increased to $2695 million, which is a 3.3 per cent increase on the 2016 spending. In my electorate alone this is $445.4 million spent in the last financial year, with the local government area of Whittlesea spending $95 million in eight venues....
Mandatory Sentencing
Jul 24, 2018
Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (18:42:37) — My adjournment matter is for the Attorney-General. The action I seek relates to the unintended gendered impacts of the government's proposed mandatory sentencing reforms, and I note that they are yet to come before this house.
I have received representations from Fitzroy Legal Service, the Centre for Excellence in Child and Family Welfare and other peak bodies, whose concerns I share. They stress that the risk of a mandatory jail term for injuring a police officer may in fact have the unintended consequence of deterring victims of family violence from calling police for help in...
HaiR-3Rs
Jun 20, 2018
Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (18:07:41) — My adjournment matter is for the Minister for the Prevention of Family Violence. The action I seek is that she assist in funding this very innovative program called HaiR-3Rs, which is a program that helps reduce domestic violence in Victoria. This program is run for hairdressers, and the 3Rs stand for recognise, respond and refer. I think this is a wonderful program —
Mr Leane interjected.
Ms PATTEN — Yes, Mr Leane. I have some eastern envy because it is in Eastern Metropolitan Region. As we all know, the relationship with a hairdresser is quite different to a relationship with any other professional. There...
Child sexual abuse
Jun 8, 2018
Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (17:08:37) — My adjournment matter is for the Attorney-General. The action I am seeking relates to the mandatory reporting of child sexual abuse cases. I think it is quite apposite to the conversations we have been having this week about the redress scheme et cetera. Yesterday I received a letter from the Anglican Diocese of Melbourne. It appears that they are of the understanding that they do not need to report allegations of child sexual abuse to the police; they only need to deal with it in-house. Then if they think that it is serious, they will report it....
All Nations Park – Northcote
May 22, 2018
Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (20:00) — My adjournment matter is really for a number of ministers but I will direct it to the Minister for Local Government, and it is in regard to funding for improvements to All Nations Park in Northcote, which I know the minister is familiar with, and I know my colleague Mr Ondarchie has also raised this issue as a constituency question. It is a real issue. This is a wonderful park that actually has all nations of people going there, and every single range of dog that you could ever imagine visits All Nations Park.
But...
Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (17:43:55) — My adjournment matter is for the Special Minister of State. The action I seek relates to the petitions that we receive in this house. As you know, in 2016 we agreed to e-petitions. This had been a long process; I think it started in 2005 when this issue was first discussed. As I presented a petition this morning, it occurred to me: what happens after we table that petition? Absolutely nothing.
Honourable members interjecting.
Ms PATTEN — Very, very little happens. It is tabled, it is put into Hansard. I take it from Mr Davis that possibly the minister may be made...
Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (22:04:33) — My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Training and Skills. The action I am seeking is for some government support to help build a community workspace at the Merrilands Community Centre in Darebin, where they are doing a lot with very little.
I was there last week. I met Italian pensioners. I saw some English lessons and a range of classes for people with disabilities. Plus, numerous sporting and social clubs use that facility for games and functions. Amongst those are women who are on correction orders. As I have learned in my time here, these...
Revoke the Nicotine ban on Vaporisers
Mar 6, 2018
Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (19:52:14) — My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Mental Health, Minister Foley, and the action I seek is an immediate end to the ban on nicotine for use in personal vaporisers. Currently we are the only country in the world that has such a ban. According to the Victorian government's own website, nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) works, is safe and easy to buy. Currently NRT, as it is known, comes in the form of patches, chewing gum, lozenges, mouth spray and inhalers, but the juice that people use in their vaporisers is still illegal.
When I visited...
Cannabis decriminalisation
Feb 21, 2018
Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (17:35:45) — My adjournment matter is for the Attorney-General. We saw in a Herald Sun front page this week an estimate that the trade in illegal cannabis in Victoria has now topped $8 billion a year. While we are spending millions of dollars on policing this, the criminals are making billions in profits. I did some back-of-the-envelope calculations on this. If we were to legalise and regulate the sale of cannabis and tax it at 30 per cent, that would be $2.4 billion that could be invested in schools, roads, hospitals and public transport, but more importantly it would be $8 billion removed from...