News and Media Archive

Victoria is set to thoroughly review its laws regulating sex work for the first time in more than 30 years, with a view to potentially decriminalising the industry. The six-month inquiry, which will start next year, will examine workplace safety, stigma and criminal activity within the industry. It will be led by Reason Party MP…

Alex White and Kieran Rooney, Herald Sun Brothels, escort services and massage parlours will be put under the microscope as part of an unprecedented review in Victoria that could lead to the decriminalisation of sex work. The state government launched the statewide sex work review today, which will be headed by Reason Party Leader Fiona Patten, who has been…

Australian Associated Press A day after the Northern Territory parliament voted to legalise sex work, the Victorian government has announced the first large-scale review of laws regulating the industry since 1985. The six-month inquiry will examine workplace safety, stigma and criminal activity within the industry. It will be led by Reason Party MP and sex worker advocate…

By Spencer Fowler Steen Fears have been expressed that Queen Victoria Market (QVM)  will lose business due to the proposed closure of the existing car park earmarked for a new “Market Square” . In a speech to a Friends of QVM meeting on November 20, property developer and businessman David Legge said half of QVM’s…

By Oliver Gordon on PM A law decriminalising sex work has passed as law in the Northern Territory. Sex worker advocates are thrilled at the development, but say there is still a long way to go to ensure all people working in the industry are protected.

Gillian McNally, News Corp Australia “The brown acid circulating around us isn’t any good … it’s your own trip so be my guest, but please be advised there’s a warning on that one, okay?” That laissez-faire drug warning remains a defining moment of Woodstock, the 1969 event that set the benchmark for all music festivals…

With AAP It’s time for Victoria to ditch “archaic” blasphemy laws because they favour Christian faiths, a state independent MP says. Upper House Reason Party MP Fiona Patten will table a bill in parliament on Wednesday to abolish the laws, in line with Queensland, WA, New Zealand, Canada and the United Kingdom. “The fundamental issue…

  This year I was very lucky to have the exceptional Ethan Katz as my intern as part of the Victorian Parliamentary Internship Program. Ethan’s report was titled: ‘Legislating for Future Well-Being: Examining the construct and building the framework in Victoria’. Ethan examined the concept of future well-being. Government’s love to make laws that deal…

Mornings with Neil Mitchell

  The Victorian Greens and Reason Party will make history tomorrow when they table a co-sponsored bill introducing a two-year pill testing pilot in Victoria. This unprecedented show of cooperation marks the first time two parties have co-sponsored a bill in a single house in the 163-year history of the Victorian Parliament. The Bill would…

      Mornings with Neil Mitchell – interview with Fiona Patten MP

ABC News Mornings report by Richard Willingham aired 15/10/19  

Federal Independent MP Andrew Wilkie has again aired allegations against the Crown casino business.   Marnie Banger | AAP Photo Credit: AAP   Crown has rejected fresh allegations of illegal behaviour at its Melbourne casino levelled by an anonymous limousine driver linked to the gambling giant. But Attorney-General Christian Porter has urged anyone who may…

By Noel Towell   Melbourne’s Crown casino faces fresh demands for an official inquiry into its activities, with allegations to be aired that the venue brings overseas high rollers into Australia without customs checks. Independent MP Andrew Wilkie will use the claims of a limousine driver for the gambling giant, who alleges a culture of drugs,…

Victorian Reason Party MP Fiona Patten and Federal Tasmanian Independent MP Andrew Wilkie join forces to demand action on Crown Casino: 12pm, Monday 14 October, Senate Courtyard, Parliament House, Canberra. Ms Patten again calls on Victorian Premier Dan Andrews for Inquiry into Crown and casino regulator amid disturbing allegations. Reason Party Leader and Member for…

Debate continues to circle the Religious Discrimination Bill as the Morrison government attempts to balance the views of public submissions on the matter. BY TOM STAYNER Cover 📷: AAP   The Morrison government’s Religious Discrimination Bill – aimed at protecting religious expression from being discriminated against – continues to be gripped by heated debate. Attorney-General Christian…

National Press Club address 9/10/19  

ACL director Martyn Iles says businesses should have greater powers to hire and fire, but denies Christians have a ‘special vendetta’ against LGBT people         By Paul Karp Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP   The Australian Christian Lobby has backed calls for religious businesses such as aged care providers to gain more powers of…

By AAP   The Christians and the secularists have faced off over religious freedom and whether proposed new laws hand Australians a licence to bigotry. As the Morrison government finalises legislation to protect people from religious discrimination, the heads of the Australian Christian Lobby and the National Secular Lobby met in Canberra to debate the…

Sky News First Edition report aired 9/10/19  

Reason Leader and Member for Northern Metropolitan, Fiona Patten, has confirmed that she and her supporters will attend the Reproductive Justice Rally on the steps of Parliament House on Saturday, October 12. The rally aims to be a counterpoint to the annual ‘March for the Babies’, a religious-based anti-abortion protest organised by right-wing Liberal MP…

Reason Leader and Member for Northern Metropolitan, Fiona Patten, will appear at the National Press Club in Canberra, 12:30pm Wednesday October 9, in a head-to-head televised debate against the Australian Christian Lobby’s Managing Director Martyn Iles. The two will debate the Morrison Government’s proposed religious freedom legislation. Ms Patten is appearing in her role as…

OPINION, Fiona Patten 📷: Wayne Taylor   It is not every day that far-right Christians hop into bed with radical feminists and the free-market libertarians snuggle in too. But they are the vocal opponents to my Racial and Religious Tolerance Amendment Bill 2019. With opposition born of such extreme ideology, perhaps it is a sign that this…

Jay Thompson   In early September, the leader of Victoria’s Reason Party Fiona Patten announced a new piece of legislation designed to enhance the Australian state’s anti-vilification laws. Specifically, this legislation aims to curb sexist, homophobic and ableist trolling that attacks people with disabilities.     The proposed legislation aims to enhance Victoria State’s anti-vilification laws. …

By Ben Knight PHOTO: Julie* uses cannabis oil, but when she drives to work she knows she is breaking the law. (ABC North Coast: Catherine Marciniak)   When the pain gets too bad, Julie* puts a couple of drops of cannabis oil under her tongue, to ease her chronic pain and help her sleep. It contains a low…

Report by Ben Knight

People die alone in their homes every day. Nicole Precel talks to those called to go in after.   It’s usually the stench that prompts neighbours to call police. It’s unexpected, metallic, rotting. It coats the inside of your mouth, revisiting you hours later. It has been three weeks since Arthur* sat on his bed,…

• Rioli Cannabis Suspension: AFL/ASADA Must Review Rules Now • Incident Shows Why Cannabis Use Inquiry By Victorian Parliament Is Much Needed • ACT Parliament Debating Bill to Make Cannabis Use Legal Shows Community Attitudes Have Evolved   Reason Party Leader and Victorian MP for Northern Metro Fiona Patten, has called on the AFL and…

  3RRR FM, Melbourne, Uncommon Sense, hosted by Judith Peppard

By JESSE BURNS Photo by AAP   Victorian upper house MP Fiona Patten says young people will die this summer unless Premier Daniel Andrews allows drug testing at music festivals. Ms Patten held a press conference on Monday, alongside young people who had experienced near-death incidents as a result of taking drugs, arguing lives lost from…

Reason Leader and Member for Northern Metropolitan, Fiona Patten, wants the Dan Andrews Government to tell her how many more young people are going to die because there are no pill testing facilities in Victoria. Ms Patten said at a media conference this morning that too many young lives had been lost already from drug…

MP, traders call for works compensation High St traders in Reservoir have threatened to shut down the Mernda line unless the State Government dishes out some cash to help them through the level crossing closure. Workers have already blocked trains at Reservoir station before, on August 19, to protest the shutdown, which has closed the…

Items from Australia’s first National Museum of Erotica have been listed for sale through Lawsons’ auction house. The online auction, entitled ‘Body Politics’, is owned by Reason Leader and Member for Northern Metropolitan, Fiona Patten, and her partner Robbie Swan. The two have been collecting erotic art and ephemera since the early 1990s. Ms Patten…

A push from Reason Party MP, Fiona Patten, for tough new anti-trolling laws was sent to the parliamentary committee on Wednesday morning. Ms Patten told 3AW’s Ross and John the current law is “pretty old fashioned” and needs refreshing in the current climate. “Currently we have a vilification law that protects people from being vilified…

 

 

A push to move Victoria’s newest public holiday is under way. Reason Party leader Fiona Patten last night moved a motion to shift the AFL grand final holiday from the Friday before the game to the Monday after. The motion was not passed, but Fiona says her campaign is just beginning. According to the Victorian…

Hemp is being pushed as the next big industry in Victoria as the state parliament announces “we are open for business” with products like plastic gin and even car parts potentially to be created from the wonder fibre. By Alex White Cover 📷: Dannika Bonser   Hemp is being pushed as the next big industry…

ABC RN Drive with Jonathan Green 28.8.19 In an Australian first, a Victorian MP has introduced an anti-trolling bill in the State Parliament aimed at protecting women and vulnerable Victorians from online hate speech. Reason Party MP Fiona Patten says her bill will extend the state’s current anti-vilification laws – which relate to racial and…

Gender Equity Victoria (GEN VIC) is proud to support the Racial and Religious Tolerance Amendment Bill 2019 as proposed by Fiona Patten, Leader of the Reason Party earlier today. The Bill serves to amend and rename the Racial and Religious Tolerance Act 2001 to extend those protections to vilification based on gender, disability, sexual orientation,…

“Australia-first” laws to target hate speech and trolling on social media have been introduced, but experts say law enforcement has a long way to go in catching up to harassment issues online. By Josh Butler Cover 📷: Getty   Victorian MP Fiona Patten is behind a push to update the state’s anti-vilification laws, broadening the…

Victoria’s hate speech legislation could be revised in a push to extend the state’s anti-vilification laws to protect women and transgender people from hateful online trolls. By Alex White   Women would receive special protection from online trolls under a new law proposed in Victoria. Reason Party MP Fiona Patten, will introduce new legislation into the state…

A report into a legislated spent convictions scheme for Victoria was released today by the Legislative Council’s Legal and Social Issues Committee. Fiona Patten MP, the Committee Chair, spoke about the report’s findings and recommendation following its tabling in Parliament. Go to parliament.vic.gov.au/spentconvictionsinquiry to read the report.

Reason Leader and Member for Northern Metropolitan, Fiona Patten, has today introduced new legislation designed to stop trolling in its tracks.   In an Australian first, the Racial and Religious Tolerance Amendment Bill 2019 will extend Victoria’s anti-vilification laws – currently only reserved to racial and religious vilification – to hate speech based on gender, as well…

Pill Testing For Pollies at Parliament!   In an Australian first, Fiona Patten MP, Member for Northern Metro and Leader of the Reason Party, in conjunction with Harm Reduction Australia and Pill Testing Australia, will host a demonstration of Pill Testing in the Victorian Parliament. Yes – it’s Pill Testing for Pollies!    As an…

The State Government Legislative Council’s Legal and Social Issues Committee is inviting community members to share their views and ideas on addressing homelessness in Victoria. An online submission form has been launched to collect information from people and organisations that have experience with homelessness and want to put forward suggestions to the committee. “We are…

 

 

Convicted sex-offender George Pell has today had his appeal dismissed by Victoria’s Court of Appeal and will continue to serve his sentence for abusing two boys after Sunday masses at St Patrick’s Cathedral in East Melbourne. Reason Leader and Member for Northern Metropolitan, Fiona Patten said this morning she was pleased and comforted that the…

‘Done by Law’ airs Tuesdays 6:00pm to 6:30pm. Following our chat with Fiona Patten earlier this year about her bill proposing a spent convictions scheme for Victoria, the Victorian Legislative Council’s Legal and Social Issues Committee has commenced a public inquiry into a legislated spent convictions scheme for Victoria. We take another look at spent convictions…

Fiona Patten MP chatted to Tom and Mikey about her rare Crown Casino motion in the Parliament of Victoria yesterday, the government’s bill to break the seal of confession to report child sexual abuse, birth certificates and more!

By Benjamin Ansell 📷 Melbourne Archbishop Peter Comensoli officially replaced the retiring Archbishop of Melbourne, Denis Hart in 2018. (AAP) Priests will be compelled to break the seal of the confessional and report admissions of child abuse under new laws being introduced in Victoria. The laws, introduced into parliament today, will force religious ministries to…

By Georgie Moore   Priests will risk jail time if they don’t report child abuse revealed to them during the sacrament of confession, under news laws being introduced in Victoria. The bill, introduced into parliament on Wednesday, would make religious ministers mandatory reporters of abuse suspicions alongside police, teachers, medical practitioners and early childhood workers….

This can be attributed to Reason Leader and Member for Northern Metropolitan, Fiona Patten.   It will come as no surprise that I am delighted that the Andrews Government is finally bringing in laws breaking the seal of confession to report child abuse.   This has been a long time coming – too long in my…

Today I moved a Motion of Urgent Public Importance in the Victorian Parliament to force the chamber to debate the serious allegations of corruption and other illegal activity at Crown Casino.   The President of the Legislative Council, the Hon Shaun Leane, rejected the application.   While I am disappointed, I of course accept the…

By Benjamin Preiss 📷: Reason Party MP Fiona Patten wants an inquiry into Crown’s gaming licence. CREDIT: WAYNE TAYLOR   Crossbench MP Fiona Patten will call for an urgent inquiry into Crown’s casino licence, arguing the state government must tackle allegations of money laundering and ties to a brothel owner. In a bold attempt to force…

By Miki Perkins Cover 📷 Naomi Murphy CREDIT: JUSTIN MCMANUS    At any hour of the day or night, Naomi Murphy could get a phone call from a social worker asking if she’s able to offer emergency help to a child in need. The Wakka Wakka woman, who lives in the Latrobe Valley, is a…

Tottie Goldsmith says her famous aunt, Olivia Newton John, has “never dome a drug in her life”. Now she’s desperate to take make one legal. By Luke Dennehy, news.com.au   The niece of Olivia Newton-John has come out strongly in support of the Australian icon as she fights to make medicinal cannabis more available for…

By Benjamin Preiss Victoria wants to allow trans and intersex people to change their sex in their birth certificates. 📷 CREDIT: EDDIE JIM   Transgender Victorians look likely to be allowed to change the sex recorded on their birth certificates, with key crossbenchers declaring their support for amendments to the law. Three crossbench MPs have…

        The Informer Airs Thursday at 7:00pm / Replays Wednesday night at Midnight A bill before the Victorian Parliament, the Births Deaths and Marriages Registration Amendment Bill 2019, will allow trans people to change their birth certificates without undergoing surgery. This week we talk to a number of people who will be…

        BY CHALPAT SONTI   “WHAT’S the point of doing the crime, doing your time, if you have to live with it for the rest of your life?” Those words by a prominent community member summed up at a sitting of a Victorian parliamentary committee in Heywood on Tuesday. The Legal and Social…

        Interview with Fiona Patten, Reason Party MP, on Vic’s voluntary assisted dying legislation and Kerry Robertson being the first person to utilise it. Breakfast with Fiona Parker 5/8/19.   Patten sends her condolences to Jacqui and Nicole, Robertson’s daughters, and says this really shows how compassion is the driving force for…

      By Laura Michell   A group of Greenvale residents determined to secure the duplication of Mickleham and Somerton roads, has relaunched a petition calling on the state government to act immediately. The Greenvale Residents Association’s roads subcommittee wants the government to prioritise the duplications of the roads, claiming they are currently “inadequate”….

      Mornings with Neil Mitchell 30/7/19   Reason Party leader Fiona Patten spoke to Neil Mitchell about the shortcomings of the scheme for patients to access medicinal cannabis. She also said the government has not confirmed her suspicions, but she “fully expects” that people have already accessed assisted dying services under the new…

        Despite politicians across the world admitting to these kinds of shenanigans, our home grown versions refuse to admit any involvement. OPINION – Neil Pharaoh “When I was a kid, I inhaled, that was the point.” This marked the first political admission of drug use and it was soon followed up with…

I was, like many others in the community, shocked at the behaviour of the Member for Burwood Will Fowles recently. His conduct was out of order, not just for a sitting member of the Victorian Parliament, but for anyone in general really.   Since Mr Fowles’ election in 2018, I have found him to be…

Presented by not-for-profit organisation Global Health Initiative, a foundation focused on medicinal cannabis education and research, this one-day conference and one-day masterclass on medicinal cannabis and treatment of mental health conditions was held in Melbourne on 20 & 21 July 2019. The conference explored the endocannabinoid system, medicinal cannabis, delivery methods, pharmacokinetics/dynamics, safety and its…

By Cait Kelly   Australia’s richest charities include some of our best universities, a Catholic education advocacy group and a foundation that runs the controversial Ramsay Centre for Western Civilisation. A policy-making group for Catholic schools in Victoria leads the pack of Australia’s charity rich list, but the top 10 includes six of the nation’s leading…

Breakfast with Tom and Mikey, 18/7/19 on Australia’s OUT, LOUD & PROUD radio station, JOY 94.9FM www.joy.org.au Fiona catches up with Tom and Mikey on drug driving laws, Melbourne Writers Festival and near-death experiences.

Reason Leader and Member for Northern Metropolitan, Fiona Patten, has responded to comments by Victorian Coroner Phillip Byrne, who yesterday handed down his report on the tragic death last year of an 18-month-old boy who died after consuming liquid nicotine.   “My heart goes out to the family, especially the mother,” Ms Patten said.  …

by JAMES BENNETT Shepparton is the only regional city in Victoria to take part in a Victorian Government fact-finding mission around spent convictions.   The Legislative Council’s Legal and Social Issues Committee, including Wendy Lovell, Tania Maxwell and Fiona Patten, were in Shepparton on Monday speaking with local legal and multicultural representative groups. The committee could…

A team of Geelong students say the pill-testing policy they passed in Victoria’s Youth Parliament would prevent some drug overdoses and save lives. By Magy Mekhaiel   A TEAM of Geelong students say the pill-testing policy they passed in Victoria’s Youth Parliament would prevent some drug overdoses and save lives. Geelong College Year 11 students…

By Wes Hosking   A statewide audit of churches and disused schools would assess their suitability to house the homeless. Reason Party leader Fiona Patten, who is chairing a parliamentary probe into homelessness, said an audit could focus on properties whose owners were exempt from tax. Her suggestion comes after the Herald Sun this week…

Evenings with David Astle 4/7/19 Reason Leader Fiona Patten talks about an inquiry into homelessness and the urgent need to help the 24 000 Victorians who currently do not have anywhere to call home. She discusses the many and varied reasons that people become homeless. She says housing is a vital part of looking after…

Reason leader, Fiona Patten discusses loneliness, reintegration and more.   Click PLAY below to listen.

Plans to introduce spent convictions legislation in Victoria – the only state that doesn’t allow the wiping of minor convictions from a person’s record – stalled earlier this year. Now, Reason Party leader Fiona Patten has put the scheme back on the agenda. By Denham Sadler.   “You can’t just put people in jail and leave…

ABC Darwin – Mornings with Adam Steer. Reason leader Fiona Patten discusses Sex Work and current laws in Victoria and the Northern Territory. Click PLAY below to listen.

“Hello, I am a politician and a criminal.” The room laughed a little nervously and no doubt some in the room were muttering under their breath well aren’t they all? It was the opening of the 9th Global Forum on Nicotine and I was sharing the stage with doctors, litigation lawyers, consumer advocates and academics….

Reason Leader and Member for Northern Metropolitan Region, Fiona Patten, says our modern reliance on the internet means that Google’s algorithms are essentially the gatekeeper to information in the public domain – so the tech giant needs to be accountable. “With great power comes great responsibility,” Ms Patten said. Ms Patten’s comments come as reports of…

ABC Mornings with Rafael Epstein Click PLAY below to listen  

Show reveals the bitterness that lingers in Liberal ranks By Jenna Clarke      There is nothing better than politicians off the leash. Which, together with a menacing soundtrack and ridiculous re-enactments, is what political TV specials usually offer up. They are the Mad Monday of the Canberra bubble, minus the weird dress-up code, 13…

Reason Leader and Member for Northern Metropolitan, Fiona Patten, says the Medically Supervised Injecting Centre (MSIC) in North Richmond is very deserving of its award at the 2019 National Alcohol and Other Drugs Excellence and Innovation Awards last night. North Richmond Community Health was given the ‘Reduction of Harm Award’ for the MSIC initiative, scored by…

June 22, 2019 at 07:30 pm by Roderick T. dela Cruz   Warsaw, Poland—A former consultant of the World Health Organization expects tobacco companies to invest in safer nicotine products such as vapes or electronic cigarettes, heat-not-burn sticks and snus amid rising demand from consumers. “Companies are constantly looking at where the market is going.  If you…

Voluntary Assisted Dying laws came into effect in Victoria on June 19, 2019. Fiona Patten MP was central in achieving this historic reform. The Project covers the new legislation, talks to potential recipients and tells the story of brave Belinda Teh who walked from Melbourne to Perth lobbying for assisted dying in WA, in memory…

Reason Leader and Member for Northern Metropolitan, Fiona Patten has today given her first comments in relation to the pending return to the Senate of One Nation’s Malcolm Roberts.   “You’re f***ing kidding me right? I thought someone was having a joke with me!  Not that climate-change denying, weirdo, conspiracy theorist.   “What a dick.”…

Today is a momentous day as eligible Victorians now have the choice to die with dignity with Voluntary Assisted Dying (VAD) laws coming into effect. Reason Leader and Member for Northern Metropolitan, Fiona Patten was central in achieving this historic reform, and on the day she was first elected into Victoria’s Legislative Council in 2014…

Reason Leader and Member for Northern Metropolitan, Fiona Patten MP, who for decades has campaigned for the victims of child sexual abuse perpetrated by church clergy, has today congratulated the Victorian Government on adopting long held Reason Party Policy to amend the Limitation of Actions Act 1958, to allow Victorian courts to set aside past deeds of…

Reason Leader and Member for Northern Metropolitan Region, Fiona Patten, welcomes data reported today on the Medically Supervised Injecting Centre in North Richmond, which confirms the centre is working, saving lives and getting people into much-needed treatment and recovery.   Ms Patten said that the data published today showed the centre was saving lives and…

Reason Leader and Member for Northern Metropolitan Region, Fiona Patten, has this morning moved a motion in the Victorian Parliament’s Legislative Council calling for a commitment to a free and open press in Victoria, in the wake of two Australian Federal Police (AFP) raids on Australian media outlets in the past two days.   The motion goes on…

 

By MATTHEW JOHNSTON, STATE POLITICS EDITOR matthew.johnston@news.com.au    If you travel to Canada or some US states this year, you might find ganja gummy bears, marijuana macarons or even “Chill Gum” for sale. Those are just some of the products emerging since cannabis was legalised in certain jurisdictions. While most US states still have laws penalising…

Most people started arriving at Reason’s election night party from about 7pm at the Kelvin Club in the city. We expected to be watching the ABC’s election coverage until about 8:30, at which point it would be called and we planned to stream the Eurovision semi-final for the rest of the night.   Then the…

The Reason Party has been calling on all sides of politics to take parliamentary action in relation to cannabis for some time, and on Wednesday, the State Government, along with the entire crossbench bar one, supported Fiona Patten‘s motion to have a serious and wide-ranging inquiry into cannabis – how it’s supplied and consumed, how it is policed,…

Mornings with Neil Mitchell, interview with Fiona Patten aired on 30/5/19. Victoria’s first inquiry into cannabis will soon be underway, after the Legislative Council voted 27 to 11 in favour of the inquiry yesterday. The inquiry will examine the state’s eight billion dollar illegal cannabis industry, assessing the health and social impacts of marijuana use…

Reason Leader and Member for Northern Metropolitan, Fiona Patten, has today received widespread support from the State Government and crossbench for her motion that has resulted in Australia’s first inquiry into cannabis.   Ms Patten said this was a significant step in the Reason Party’s cannabis campaign.   “We said we would do something about…

   

Reason Leader and Member for Northern Metropolitan, Fiona Patten, today welcomes a solid Victorian Government budget which outlines surpluses over the forward estimates, however says it lacks ambition.   Ms Patten said she was really pleased to see investment in schools and infrastructure in the north – in a region that was often ignored by…

By Matt Woodley Fiona Patten, the politician who helped pave the way for the Richmond safe-injecting room, has all but ruled out relocating the facility before the end of its two-year trial, despite resident concerns.   Reports of public drug use, trafficking and antisocial behaviour have plagued the safe-injecting room since the trial began in 2018, prompting local…

Fiona Patten MP talks about the disappointing click bait news stories published by the Herald Sun on North Richmond and the Medically Supervised Injecting Centre – that are doing more harm than good. Ms Patten said we needed to continue to work together towards solutions and improvements for the area, and not add fuel to…

University of Melbourne, Lucy Lovegrove Reason Australia, formerly the Australian Sex Party, is running a “pared-back” federal campaign, fielding just three candidates in the lower house and none in the Senate. Listing budget constraints and the overhauled Senate voting system as factors, Reason founder and Victorian MP Fiona Patten says the bare-bones campaign was a…

Mornings with Jon Faine. Reason leader, Fiona Patten defends the North Richmond Medically Supervised Injecting Centre following a community meeting.  

Mornings with Neil Mitchell, 14/5/19 Reason leader Fiona Patten chats to Neil Mitchell about drag story time, postal votes and the police “stuff up” that led to a man getting seriously injured in a raid. Click PLAY below to listen.

by SAM LANGFORD   Melbourne’s LGBTIQ community is demanding justice for an innocent man who was seriously injured when police wrongfully raided beloved queer bookstore Hares & Hyenas on the weekend.   Content warning: this post contains descriptions of home invasions and violent injury.    Around 2am on Saturday morning, police broke in through a garage to raid…

It’s a month until Victoria becomes the first state in Australia to legalise voluntary assisted dying which will provide relief to hundreds of terminally ill patients and their loved ones. The law comes into effect on June 19 and is expected to help hundreds of Victorians.

Reason Leader and Member for Northern Metropolitan, Fiona Patten, said a horrific incident in Fitzroy at the weekend was an example of policing gone wrong and must be independently investigated from Victoria Police. This comes after an incident at about 2am on Saturday, where heavily armed police officers mistakenly stormed an apartment attached to gay…

Fiona Patten is a divisive figure – a former sex worker and fashion designer who went from adult industry lobbyist to Australian MP for the Reason Party. Whether you agree with her values or not, it’s impossible to deny that she’s made a big splash. Having been elected to the Parliament of Victoria in November 2018…

By Samantha Dick   In Australia, it is illegal to buy and use cannabis simply to ‘get high’. However, some people with medical conditions, such as epilepsy or multiple sclerosis, can be prescribed medicinal cannabis by a doctor as a way to help relieve their symptoms. Some people suffering from chronic or terminal illnesses have even found that…

  ABC Radio 774 News

Reason Leader and Member for Northern Metropolitan, Fiona Patten MP, has today secured a Spent Convictions Scheme for Victoria. After Ms Patten introduced a Spent Convictions Bill earlier this year, ongoing negotiations with the Andrews Government today led to a Government Referral that will make a spent convictions scheme a reality. The motion put by…

In the lead-up to the Federal Election, Fiona Patten talks to Tom & Mikey about which seats her Reason party will be running for, her take on the all the smear campaigns, and party spending on their election.  

The Victorian Labor Government has referred the following to the Legal and Social Issues Committee:

Reason Leader and Member for Northern Metropolitan Region, Fiona Patten, will join the National Secular Lobby (NSL) and like-minded politicians to ensure secular freedom is on top of the agenda at the Federal Election.   Ms Patten will be speaking about the importance of the separation of church and state and how we can do better,…

 

Mornings with Tony Jones Reason leader Fiona Patten MP questions former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s calls that the Australian Government should donate to the Notre Dame Restoration fund after the historic French site caught fire overnight. Click PLAY below to listen.  

Reason Leader and Member for Northern Metropolitan Region, Fiona Patten, has lambasted calls by former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull that the Australian Government should donate to the Notre Dame Restoration fund after the historic French site caught fire overnight.   Federal Labor Leader Bill Shorten agreed to the proposal on ABC radio this morning.  …

By Chloe Sargeant Along with the inevitable fear of the unknown that often comes before undergoing invasive surgery, I was also terrified of something else: my decision being protested.   When I had an abortion, I was terrified. Obviously. I was inundated with fear: was I making the right choice? What if I couldn’t have a…

By Remy Varga 📷 by: Aaron Francis   The Victorian Labor government is considering setting up exclusion zones around medical centres that offer euthanasia, similar to the ones in place around abortion clinics, after cancer patients and their families were targeted by protesters. A group led by former Catholic priest Eugene Ahern have returned this morning…

By state political reporter Richard Willingham   Cancer patients, their families and medical staff have been harassed by anti-euthanasia protesters as they enter Melbourne’s Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre for treatment.   A small band of protesters recently handed pamphlets to patients and staff, attacking the centre for preparing for voluntary assisted dying laws that come into…

The High Court has today deemed valid laws to protect women and their families, as well as staff, at clinics and hospitals that provide termination services in Victoria and Tasmania.   “The long-fought battle to protect women from anti-abortion protestors is finally over,“ Reason Leader and Member for Northern Metropolitan, Fiona Patten said.   The…

By Melissa Cunningham   Distressed cancer patients and staff have been harassed by anti-assisted dying protesters who handed them pamphlets describing voluntary euthanasia as “patient killing by doctors”. A group of protesters lobbied outside the hospital’s Grattan Street entrance last week and distributed flyers purporting to be from the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre.   Headlines on…

Reason Leader and Member for Northern Metropolitan, Fiona Patten, is horrified by a group of people harassing staff, cancer patients and their families outside Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne.   This comes just months before Victorians with a terminal illness will be able to request an assisted death if they meet certain criteria, when…

Reason leader Fiona Patten reveals that patients and staff of Peter McCallum Cancer Centre have been subjected to fear-mongering and misleading flyers over upcoming Voluntary Assisted Dying legislation being introduced.   “You have the right to free speech but not to a free audience.” @FionaPattenMLC on #Mornings now, following this flyer being handed to individuals…

Reason leader Fiona Patten discusses vegan protesters, Medically Supervised Injecting Centre, Royal Brunei Air and much, much more.   Click PLAY below to listen.  

BY LAURA MICHELL   Star Weekly joined Whittlesea council as it attempted to drive a bus from Wollert to Melbourne’s CBD last week for National Nightmare Commute Day. Here’s what happened.   The 24-kilometre journey from Wollert to Melbourne’s CBD, via High Street and St Georges Road, should take 55 minutes. But the daily reality for…

3AW Drive with Tom Elliott, 8/4/19 Reason leader Fiona Patten defends the Medically Supervised Injecting Centre amid reports of leaked footage of a drug user who works near the centre. Click PLAY below to listen.  

Reason Leader and Member for Northern Metropolitan, Fiona Patten, says reports in the News Limited tabloid press today of an incident near the Richmond Medically Supervised Injecting Centre (MSIC) back in February are politically motivated and in fact show the overwhelming need for the centre to continue the work of saving lives.   An employee…

Reason Leader and Member for Northern Metropolitan Region, Fiona Patten, is calling on a safety crackdown on products that contain button batteries, following the tragic death of a toddler at Sunshine Hospital.   Ms Patten said urgent funds must be released for an education campaign and for the Federal Government to adopt the ACCC’s recommendations on…

“Clearly this is a political budget,” Reason Leader and Member for Northern Metropolitan, Fiona Patten said tonight. “In fact, you might call it the most political budget we have ever had. I can’t think of another time we’ve had a budget this close to the calling of a federal election and everything in it has…

By Tawar Razaghi   An array of Sydney churches have been accused of exploiting loopholes to become pseudo-property developers and keep their tax-free status, prompting renewed calls to examine whether religious organisations should retain such exemptions. Opponents pointed to four developments across the city as examples why further examination of churches’ ability to pay no tax…

Reason Leader and Member for Northern Metropolitan Region, Fiona Patten, says the way to address the influence of money on elections is to cap the amount that can be spent on them.   “It’s that simple,” Ms Patten said this morning.   This comes as reports about the Australian Hotels Association imposing a special one-off levy…

Reason Leader and Member for Northern Metropolitan Region, Fiona Patten, today took the first step to amend our road laws, so that medicinal cannabis is treated the same as every other prescription medication.   Ms Patten today sought to amend the Transport Legislation Amendment (Better Roads Victoria and Other Amendments) Bill 2018, to include new driving laws for…

By RACHEL BAXENDALE, VICTORIAN POLITICAL REPORTER Cover 📷: Getty Images   Victorian Labor frontbencher Martin Pakula says Liberal backbencher Bernie Finn’s decision to refuse to stand for an acknowledgment of indigenous Australians at the daily opening of state parliament is “the type of ridiculous pettiness he’s been associated with for most of his political career”. Mr Finn’s…

By state political reporter Richard Willingham Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has flagged opening Parliament with a multi-faith ceremony instead of the Lord’s Prayer.   Religions observed by state MPs include Christianity, Judaism, Islam and Hinduism. At the start of every day, the Speaker and President lead the Lord’s Prayer in the Upper House and Lower…

  Leader of Reason, Fiona Patten discusses the government’s plan to ask a committee to investigate whether the lord’s prayer is appropriate for starting each sitting day. Click PLAY below to listen.   https://www.facebook.com/abcmelbourne/posts/10157093570013926

By RACHEL BAXENDALE, VICTORIAN POLITICAL REPORTER 📷 CREDIT: TIM CARRAFA   Daniel Andrews says a “multi-faith moment at the beginning of the parliamentary day” may offer a better reflection of modern, multicultural Victoria than the Lord’s Prayer, backing a move by his Special Minister of State to consider scrapping the century-old tradition or add prayers from…

By Noel Towell and Adam Carey 📷 by Joe Armao   Religion and politics, often a volatile mix, have feelings running high again in State Parliament this week. Conservative members of the upper house have been refusing to stand for the Acknowledgment of Country at the opening of the house’s sessions, while calls are gaining momentum to drop…

Reason Leader and Member for Northern Metropolitan, Fiona Patten, has today welcomed the decision by Special Minister of State Gavin Jennings, to refer the matter of replacing the daily recitation of the Lord’s Prayer in Parliament to the Procedures Committee of the Upper House for review.   Ms Patten said this was a major step…

By Melissa Davey 📷: The plaque celebrating Cardinal George Pell’s tenure as archbishop of Sydney at St Mary’s Cathedral is seen splattered with green paint in Sydney. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP   Fiona Patten, the leader of the Reason party, gave a statement outside the county court. “The Catholic church has always thought it was above…

By Paul Sakkal 📷: Cardinal George Pell outside the Melbourne County Court. CREDIT: JASON SOUTH   Fiona Patten, Victorian MP for the Reason Party, said she didn’t believe Mr Pell’s appeal will be successful, because she was “an optimistic person”. Ms Patten said the Court of Appeal would need to prove the jury was unreasonable in finding Pell guilty,…

By Remy Varga 📷: George Pell (centre) has been sentenced to six years’ jail on child sex abuse offences. Judge Peter Kidd (top right) handed down the sentence today as a victim of sex abuse (top left), media (bottom left) and victim support group members (bottom right) watched on from outside the court.   Reason Party…

Reason Leader and Member for Northern Metropolitan Region, Fiona Patten, is calling for the Government’s support to create greater transparency within the Catholic Church – both socially and financially.   Ms Patten said she was committed to removing the confessional seal to make reporting of child sex abuse mandatory, as well as putting a stop to tax avoidance…

George Pell has a special place in the hearts of the Australian sex industry. It’s a dark place that he shares with other morals campaigners who have seen an opportunity to try and assuage their own guilt over child sex abuse by accusing people who work in the sex industry of the crimes they were…

Leader of the Reason Party, Fiona Patten MP has defended her decision not to support the opposition’s attempt to torpedo a deal linked to the construction of the West Gate Tunnel. She said “the opposition could give me no strong arguments for why they wanted to revoke it, except to stymie the Government.” Click PLAY…

By Rachel Baxendale – Victorian Political Reporter – THE AUSTRALIAN Cover 📷: Sarah Matray   Victorian Attorney-General Jill Hennessy has called on the federal government to put more resources into processing applications for child sex abuse redress, following revelations just a third of Victorian survivors who applied last year had been offered access to the scheme. Ms…

MS PATTEN — to move — that 1. this House notes that the current prohibition model in relation to cannabis products is failing; 2. a select Committee of seven Members be appointed to inquire into, consider and report, no later than Monday, 2 March 2020, on the legalisation and regulation of adult use cannabis products,…

Leader of the Reason Party, Fiona Patten discusses the merits of the AFL’s current approach to players who fail a drugs test and why the Victorian Government should adopt it. Interview hosted by Anya Saravanan, aired on 5/3/19.  

 

Fiona Patten, Victorian MP and leader of the Reason Party, discusses her call for Cardinal George Pell to be excommunicated. She also talk about her support of the AFL drugs policy and the merits of their approach. Aired on 2/3/19.

Reason Leader Fiona Patten MP is supporting the AFL Players Association (AFLPA) in the wake of controversy over the league’s illicit drug policy.   This week, ex-St Kilda champion Nick Riewoldt told SEN Radio that drug use within the AFL was “out of control” and that players should be suspended after one positive test to illicit…

AUSTRALIA’S most senior Catholic cleric Cardinal George Pell should be excommunicated from the Catholic Church immediately. Pell was found guilty in the Victorian County Court of sexually abusing two choirboys while he was Archbishop of Melbourne in 1996. The decision finally brought justice to Pell’s victims and those tragically caught up in the church’s atrocities….

Interview with Fiona Patten aired 26/2/19, hosted by Amy Mullins. Fiona stops by Triple R to talk about her drug reform priorities for the new Victorian Parliament.  

Reason Leader Fiona Patten MP is today calling on Australia’s most senior Catholic cleric, Cardinal George Pell, to be excommunicated from the Catholic Church – immediately. This comes as the Victorian County Court found Pell guilty of sexually abusing two choirboys while he was the archbishop of Melbourne in 1996. Ms Patten said the decision finally…

3AW Sunday Morning, hosted by Nick McCallum, Darren James and Heidi Murphy, aired on 25/2/19 Reason leader Fiona Patten talks to Nick McCallum, Heidi Murphy and Darren James about the Medically Supervised Injecting Centre in North Richmond and the measures that the Victorian Government and local council need to take to ensure the trial’s success….

3AW Mornings with Neil Mitchell, aired on 22/2/19 Reason leader Fiona Patten has suggested improvements be made to the Medically Supervised Injecting Centre (MSIC) trial in North Richmond as the Herald Sun releases new figures from Ambulance Victoria which points to callouts in Yarra for overdoses only receiving a modest decrease. Click PLAY below to…

Friday February 22, 2019   Reason Leader Fiona Patten MP is urging the Andrews Government to extend the operating hours of the Medically Supervised Injecting Centre in North Richmond, in light of ambulance data reported today. The data, which shows ambulance call outs for North Richmond, revealed the number of callouts halved when the injecting…

By Emma Ryan, Editor, Lawyers Weekly   The Victorian Bar has responded to recent parliamentary debate concerning the adoption of legislation around spent convictions in the state.   Calls for the adoption and implementation of legislation around spent convictions has made headlines in parliament recently, with Reason Party MP Fiona Patten introducing a Spent Convictions Bill last…

By Matt Johnston Cover 📷: Tony Gough As many political parties struggle to retain women in top jobs, the fledgling Reason Party has had an entirely different experience. As well as the party leadership position, held by state MP and former Sex Party founder Fiona Patten, women have secured the roles of convener, secretary, treasurer and…

Done by Law is hosted by Greg, Sam, and Gemma, interview aired on 19/2/19 Fiona talks spent convictions and how they will reduce stigma and provide opportunities for people to move on with their lives.

MS PATTEN — To move — That this House — (1)   notes — (a)   that despite the introduction of e-petitions in the Legislative Council in 2017, there is no obligation for the Parliament to do anything once an e-petition has been tabled; (b)   the benefits of improving community engagement with the political process; (2)   requires…

Open minds is a chat show hosted by Bernard Korbman and Dominic Carter on J-AIR, a Jewish Community Radio station based in Melbourne. In this episode, Fiona talks to Bernard and Dominic about everything from drugs to Facebook, Auntie Jess, and nuns getting along with sex workers.   Click PLAY below to hear the details.

Mornings with Neil Mitchell Leader of the Reason Party Fiona Patten has called for the Lord’s Prayer to be scrapped from parliament. “I think we should be looking for an alternative to it,” she told Neil Mitchell. “I don’t know any other workplaces that start with a prayer in the morning.   “In a secular…

Report by Andrew Lund, aired on Nine news Melbourne , 9/2/19  

  Read the bill here.

Reason Party Leader and Northern Metropolitan MP Fiona Patten says if Victoria Police threatens to shut down the Rainbow Serpent Festival due to drug deals and drug use – do they also plan to close music concerts and events across the state entirely?   This comes after Victoria Police warned festival organisers that they must…

Danny Hill of the Ambulance Employees Association and #Reason leader Fiona Patten talk to Jon Faine about the Rainbow Serpent Festival and the problems with current drug policy. Click PLAY below to hear the details

Triple M’s Hot Breakfast catchup, aired 23/1/19  

By Andrew Lund     Supporters of a pill testing trial in Victoria have received a significant boost, with a group of cross-bench MPs joining forces to put pressure on the Andrews government. The MPs hold the balance of power in the state’s Legislative Council and are calling on the government to embrace the idea,…

3AW Mornings with Neil Mitchell, aired on 21/1/19 Leader of the Reason Party, Fiona Patten says the push for pill testing is gaining momentum. She has united an unlikely group of cross-benchers to call on the Andrews Government to introduce a trial.  

Breakfast with Jacinta Parsons and Sami Shah, aired 21/1/19   The Reason Party’s Fiona Patten isn’t one to mince words when it comes to pill testing in Victoria. “The ‘Just Say No’ approach is futile.” She joined ABC Melbourne’s Breakfast team to discuss why Victoria’s diverse Upper House crossbench is standing together to show support…

Hosted by Eleanor Hall, report by Caroline Winter. Featuring Cate Faehrmann, Fiona Patten, Victorian Reason Party.   There’s a growing chorus, calling for the introduction of pill testing at music festivals. One state MP is so frustrated that it hasn’t been brought in, she’s opened up about taking drugs, to encourage politicians to be more…

By John Masanauskas and Matt Johnston   An inner city council wants to run ­Victoria’s first pill testing at music festivals as a powerful group of state MPs pushes for a trial and builds pressure on the Andrews Government.   The City of Port Phillip is pushing to host Victoria’s first trial after the drug…

Media Release   Reason Party Leader and Northern Metropolitan MP Fiona Patten will be joined by the majority of new crossbench members of the Legislative Council, as well as health experts, calling on the Andrews Government to approve a crucial pill testing trial which will save lives.   Ms Patten will form a united front…

By state political reporter Richard Willingham Victoria’s diverse Upper House crossbench is demanding the Andrews Government undertake a trial of pill testing, and are vowing to make the issue a key matter in the Parliament. Victoria’s diverse Upper House crossbench is demanding the Andrews Government undertake a trial of pill testing, and are vowing to make…

Cover 📷: David Peake Leader of the Reason Party and member for Northern Metropolitan Region, Fiona Patten, spoke in full support of the new youth-led campaign for pill testing, #BeHeardNotHarmed. She called on the Premier, Daniel Andrews to listen to the voices of young people. “It is their peers, it is their friends that are dying,…

By David Adams Cover 📷: James Ross / AAP Images   Greens leader Richard Di Natale has slammed the Victorian and New South Wales state governments over their refusal to permit pill testing trials at festivals, saying “wilful ignorance” around the harm reduction measure may contribute to the deaths of more young Australians. Speaking at the Melbourne launch of the Students for Sensible Drug Policy’s (SSDP) Be Heard Not Harmed campaign,…

Reason leader Fiona Patten speaks with Tony Jones on Australia Day citizenship ceremonies, robo-calls and pill testing.   Click PLAY below to hear the details    

It was a close call for the leader of the Reason Party in the 2018 Victorian state election, winning her seat for the Northern Metropolitan Region back only once the pre-poll votes were counted. Thankfully, Fiona Patten is back in the Legislative Council for four more years, and returns as our regular guest on JOY in 2019….

By Broede Carmody Cover 📷: James Alcock   The refusal to adopt nationwide pill-testing trials is “needlessly endangering lives”, according to the peak body for Australian music festivals. The Australian Festival Association – which represents major events including Splendour in the Grass, Falls, Groovin The Moo and Harbourlife – has published an open letter calling for state and territory governments…

ABC 774 Drive program, hosted by Warwick long, aired 9/1/19

 By Chloe Booker A man is fighting for his life after a drug overdose at a Melbourne music festival as calls for pill testing intensify. The man is one of two revellers who have been rushed to hospital from the Beyond The Valley festival at Lardner south-east of Melbourne. The man, aged in his 20s,…

Leader of the Reason Party Fiona Patten says continuing to say ‘no’ to pill testing is “immoral”. It comes after Falls Festival revellers received an urgent text message following a death at a music festival in New South Wales. “To hear the NSW Premier say that she was devastated that another young person has died…

 Reason leader Fiona Patten talks to Prue Bentley about her plan to legalise and regulate cannabis.

  Reason leader Fiona Patten talks to Justin Smith about her plan to introduce a bill to legalise cannabis on the first sitting day of Parliament.  

 By Kaitlyn Offer   Victoria’s politicians need to lift their game and behave better, the re-elected speaker has urged as parliament resumes. After claiming a thumping 55-seat win at the November 24 poll, Labor has not just a clear lower house majority, but its MPs Colin Brooks and Shaun Leane are now speaker and president…

By Benjamin Preiss Cover 📷: James Brickwood   Re-elected MP Fiona Patten has put drug law reform at the top of her political agenda by introducing a bill to legalise marijuana in Victoria, which she hopes will gain the support of the new Parliament. Ms Patten wants cannabis legalised so that it can be cultivated and…

Re-elected Leader of the Reason Party, Fiona Patten MP, has wasted no time in setting the legislative agenda for the 59thParliament.   Before a single new member will have made their inaugural speech, Ms Patten will introduce a Bill to legalise cannabis in Victoria.   The legislation, called the Drugs, Poisons and Controlled Substances Amendment (Cannabis…

Re-elected Upper House MP Fiona Patten says she will not support Derryn Hinch’s proposed public sex offender’s register legislation in the Victorian Parliament. Hinch’s Justice Party has three seats in the Upper House, making them a powerful player in legislative decisions over the next four years. Ms Patten told Neil Mitchell she will not support…

By Adam Carey & Benjamin Preiss Cover 📷: CHRIS HOPKINS   The Andrews government will need to negotiate with a potentially unwieldy crossbench of 11 minor party MPs to get its legislation through the upper house. Labor fell short of a majority in the upper house despite its thumping election win last month, winning 18 of 40 seats…

By state political reporters Richard Willingam and Stephanie Anderson Cover 📷 AAP: Joe Castro   Daniel Andrews’ dominance of Victorian politics continues, landing 18 of 40 Upper House seats, with enough progressive parties winning spots on the crossbench to potentially provide an avenue for any controversial legislation.   Final calculations for the Upper House have been released by the…

By Benjamin Priess. Cover 📷: CHRIS HOPKINS   Loud cheers broke the silence at the Royal Melbourne Showgrounds as Fiona Patten’s re-election to the Victorian Parliament’s upper house was confirmed. She had faced a nervous wait before the results were finally confirmed on Tuesday afternoon – more than two weeks after election day.     The…

 

Leader of the Reason Party, Fiona Patten MP, has today released her Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) Pre-election Report – demonstrating that she can achieve meaningful social change and balance the books at the same time. “At Reason, we are socially progressive, but also economically prudent.” Said Ms Patten. Ms Patten’s policies, which include treating personal…

Leader of the Reason Party, Fiona Patten MP, has today released her costed policy, putting a figure on the scale of tax avoidance being perpetrated by religious run businesses in Victoria. Ms Patten plans to crack down on for-profit businesses that take advantage of charitable tax exemptions despite not conducting objectively charitable works – and…

By Monique Hore, state political reporter Reason Party leader Fiona Patten has promised a radical Bill to legalise cannabis within a year, if re-elected on ­Saturday.   The Legislative Council crossbencher was vital to establishing the state’s first drug- injecting centre in North Richmond, along with a voluntary euthanasia scheme. “I will now turn my attention…

By Rachel Baxendale, Victorian Political Reporter and Samantha Hutchinson, Victorian Political Writer – THE AUSTRALIAN   Victorian upper house MP Fiona Patten has called for urgent reform of the state’s preferential voting system for the Legislative Council, taking aim at “preference whisperer” Glenn Druery. Mr Druery, who is chief of staff to federal senator Derryn Hinch, takes…

Leader of the Reason Party Fiona Patten MP has today revealed her plan to make cannabis legal for recreational purposes in Victoria. “If elected again by the people of Northern Metro, I promise to bring forward legislation within my first 12 months that will pave the way to make Victoria the first state in Australia…

By state political reporter Richard Willingham 📷: Sharon McCutcheon Buying and smoking cannabis would be legal in Victoria within the next two years under an ambitious new policy pitch from the Reason Party.   The plan would boost the state’s coffers by $204 million, according to Victoria’s Parliamentary Budget Office, by reducing the costs of policing…

The leader of the Reason Party, Fiona Patten MP, has announced plans to introduce WiFi on all Victoria public transport as part of a set of policies aiming to regain Melbourne’s status as the worlds most liveable city. “This is about enabling the public to stay connected during their commutes. Every bus, every train, every…

Victorian Upper House MP, Fiona Patten, has pledged to initiate reform of Victoria’s voting system if re elected at Saturday’s state election. Her first pledge after being elected in 2014 was to get voluntary assisted dying laws introduced, which she did. “My first priority as a member of the next parliament will be to initiate…

Fiona Patten’s Reason Party candidate for South Eastern Metro, Laura Chipp, has released the party’s Modern Criminal Justice policy today, which will reduce re-offending and save Victoria $216m. The centerpiece of the policy, costed by the Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO), is to adopt Spain’s Diagrama youth re-education model which is a proven success. “This is…

By Royce Millar & Ben Schneiders Cover 📷: AAP   Senator Derryn Hinch has acknowledged his own adviser, self-styled “preference whisperer” Glenn Druery, may have worked against the interests of his Justice Party in the build-up to next week’s state election. Mr Druery has worked with a slew of micro-parties to organise cash-for-votes deals that could see…

By Josh Butler, 10 daily Senior News Reporter It came with a tongue-in-cheek joke about stiff necks versus stiffies, but the Victorian state election has opened up new discussion about how Australia outlaws sex work.   The Reason Party, formerly known as the Sex Party, this week released its policy on ‘sex and censorship’. Included…

Reason Party Leader Fiona Patten will be heading to several pre-poll booths across Melbourne on Saturday. Ms Patten will be supporting her Reason Party candidates for the 2018 Victorian Election, as well as meeting with community members as they cast their votes. Fiona Patten’s polling booth schedule for Saturday 17 November  9 – 9:30am: South…

In the weeks prior to an Election we receive possibly hundreds of requests from various organisations to complete surveys on how our election platform intersects with their policies. This year we received one such survey from the Australian Christian Lobby and I thought I might share their questions and my responses:   Public Christianity Equal…

The leader of the Reason Party, Fiona Patten MP, has today questioned whether there is an unusual epidemic of neck injury in Melbourne, or whether the incredible proliferation of Massage Parlors across our suburbs is symptomatic of something else? In releasing her costed policy on Sex and Censorship today, Ms Patten said “With unregulated sexual services being provided…

MONIQUE HORE, STATE POLITICAL REPORTER, Herald Sun 📷: Reason Party leader Fiona Patten will announce the policy today. Picture: Jake Nowakowski   THE work week would be cut to four days for some state government bureaucrats, under a radical plan by the Reason Party. Leader Fiona Patten will today call for a year-long trial of…

By Rebecca McDonald     Wyndham’s fast growing population could be slowed under a policy revealed by a Victorian minor party. The Reason Party has outlined its policy it says is dedicated to outer suburban liveability, in areas including Werribee. Leader Fiona Patten met with the Interface Councils, which takes in Melbourne’s outer suburban councils, to…

Leader of the Reason Party, Fiona Patten MP, has today announced her innovative plan for a four day work week in Victoria. “It is an idea that has been trialed overseas with resounding success and should be tested here” Ms Patten said. New Zealand company Perpetual Guardian’s trial of a four-day working showed that employees…

The leader of the former Sex party fears a challenge from the left could deliver her upper house seat to conservatives By Luke Henriques-Gomes Cover 📷: Meredith O’Shea for the Guardian   One day in 2017, Fiona Patten took the biggest risk of her political career. Three years into her first term in the Victorian parliament, it…

By Cam Lucadou-Wells Cover 📷: Opposition corrections spokesman Edward O”Donohue, second left, with Liberal candidates Susan Serey (Narre Warren South), Vikki Fitzgerald (Narre Warren North) and Maree Davenport (Mulgrave).   Dandenong could be home to a 300-bed jail, under a proposal by the Liberal Nationals state coalition. If elected to Government, the Coalition will provide…

Research finds 27.6% of people say they feel lonely at least three days every week By Melissa Davey 📷: Paul Braven/AAP   More than one-fifth of Australians rarely or never feel they have someone to talk to or turn to for help, and more than one quarter feel lonely for at least three days every week,…

By state political reporters Richard Willingham and Stephanie Anderson 📷: Stephanie Anderson   Of the four inner-city Labor-Greens contests, Richmond was considered Labor’s best chance of defeating the minor party. Mr Wynne has been the member for Richmond since 1999 has a high profile in the seat. Some in Labor said the party had been preparing for some…

By Miki Perkins 📷 by Justin McManus   Unlike many people, Ryan Hubbard feels comfortable admitting there are times in his life when he has been painfully lonely. Loneliness is not unusual, and it’s not a personal failing, he says. “But people often wonder what they’re doing wrong, or why people don’t like them.” Mr Hubbard has lived…

Fiona Patten MP, Leader of the Reason Party is calling for pill testing trials in Victoria. Fiona Patten’s policy for 18 month trial of front of house pill testing in Victoria would cost $400,000 according to costings provided by the Parliamentary Budgets Office. “If the trial only saves one person from serious injury, this policy…

Good relationships could be a key to better health, according to a new study that found poorer outcomes for lonely people. Source: AAP   Helping lonely Australians build friendships could be good for their health, a new study has found. The news comes as a survey of more than 1600 Australians found loneliness has strong…

Crikey examines micro-party machinations for clues about possible Victorian election preference deals. By Stephen Mayne Cover 📷: ANIMAL JUSTICE PARTY PRESIDENT BRUCE POON PROTESTS JUMPS RACING IN 2011.   Nominations for party candidates ahead of the November 24 Victorian election closed at noon today and independents have another 24 hours before we’ll see the full list of…

. The costings provided by the Parliamentary Budget Office, show direct savings to the state budget of $168 million over the forward estimates. Ms Patten said “We are banging our heads against the wall, if we think we can arrest our way out this problem, but by shifting the focus to treatment improves outcomes across…

By Royce Millar, Ben Schneiders & Benjamin Preiss Cover 📷: Glenn Druery appeared before the Senate voting reform committee at Parliament House in Canberra 2016 CREDIT: ANDREW MEARES   Self-styled preference whisperer Glenn Druery faces a potential criminal investigation as police consider a complaint about his cash-for-votes operation ahead of this month’s state election. As The Age revealed last month, Reason Party…

Fiona Patten’s Reason Party drug policy will bring a colossal $349.3 million in revenue to the Victorian economy, and save hundreds of millions more in health and productivity savings.   Leader of the Reason Party, Fiona Patten MP, has been a strong advocate for drug law reform in Victoria from a health perspective, but costings…

  According to figures requested by the Reason Party, legalising cannabis and personal drug use would generate millions of dollars in tax revenue and benefit an overwrought legal system. By Alex McKinnon.     On October 17, government-approved retail outlets in Canada began stocking cannabis for legal recreational consumption. It’s proved a profitable move for the…

The event comes just before Victorians head to a state election and the pill testing debate rages around the country. By Evan Young   A Victorian state MP is throwing a rave party to gather support for pill testing at music festivals and gigs. Fiona Patten’s Reason Party (formally the Sex Party) wants to install…

By Helen Macklin   A push for pill testing at music festivals in Victoria has begun just ahead of the state’s elections. The push comes from the Reason Party, which used to be known as the Sex Party. Its leader, state upper house MP for the Northern Metropolitan region, Fiona Patten has said that pill testing should be…

Harrison Tippet, Geelong Advertiser VICTORIA’S first pill testing trial should be held at Falls Festival in Lorne this year, a state upper house MP and Geelong candidate says. Reason Party leader Fiona Patten said providing Falls Festival punters with the opportunity to test their drugs while at the event would help save lives. “I would…

They expect and accept you’ll probably get on the gear.   If there’s one way to get young, drug-loving Australian voters on side, it’s throwing them a rave. Fiona Patten, leader of the Reason Party—formally known as the Sex Party—knows this. She’s putting on a five-hour house and techno rave in Melbourne next month to…

#Reason leader Fiona Patten raises questions about the blurring of Mr Druery’s role as a businessman dealing in votes and also as a taxpayer-funded adviser to Senator Derryn Hinch.

Image source: File/Getty Images An Australian political party has announced it is throwing a rave to gather support for its pill testing policy among young voters ahead of the Victorian election. Reason Party leader Fiona Patten announced on Tuesday that the rave, at a bar called Shifty’s in the inner Melbourne suburb of Fitzroy, will…

By Fiona Patten Aloneness is a state of mind that feels good. It’s a place where you feel complete in yourself and no number of friends, family or well-wishers is really going to add to that. Loneliness is almost the opposite. It’s a state of mind where you feel anything but complete and where a yawning…

Victorian Parliament Upper House member and Leader of the Reason Party, Fiona Patten, has welcomed today’s apology to the victims of child sex abuse in religious institutions – but has slammed the inaction of legislators in the past and blamed it on their cosy relationships with religious orders.   In 2000, Ms Patten was chastised…

By Calla Wahlquist. Cover Photograph: Chris Hopkins for the Guardian.       Victoria MP says entrenched loneliness is so serious it requires government intervention. Australia is becoming an increasingly lonely place, so much so that one party is turning it into an election issue. Social isolation affects one in 10 Australians, while one in six…

  By Pat Sheil   MEMOIR Sex, Drugs and the Electoral Roll Fiona Patten Allen & Unwin, $32.99 “I am an advocate for free speech, but not of a free audience.” So declared Fiona Patten, former sex worker, anti-censorship lobbyist, and founder of the Australian Sex Party during the heated debate on restricting the ability of…

Fiona Patten MP, Leader of the Reason Party has today called on One Nation Leader Pauline Hanson to join her in a new campaign to stop anti-redhead hate speech.   “For the last few days, everywhere I go all I have heard is people saying ‘Did you hear what that redhead moron did now?’ and…

Fiona talks to Neil about election spending caps, assisted dying laws, re-election and a Minister for Loneliness. #reason

By Sally Pryor Cover photo credit: Eddie Jim   She may be a Melbourne fixture, but Fiona Patten is a Canberra legend. When she first stood up in the Victorian Parliament and gave her maiden speech, the room was astonished to hear her proudly declare her status as “the first former sex worker to be elected…

On World Mental Health Day (10.10.18), Fiona Patten MP, Leader of the Reason Party and Member for Northern Metro has announced her ambitious plan for Mental Health reform in Victoria.   “This is life and death. Victorians  are dying as a consequence of poor policy.” said Ms Patten.   Ms Patten’s plan to invest an…

The social media platform may be known for lewd photo swapping, but a risqué joke by Victorian politician Fiona Patten has proved too much. Source: www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news   Reason Party Leader Fiona Patten launched a video ad, in which she talks about knowing a lot about “dicks” but although the audio was bleeped out and the subtitle…

    By Wendy Tuohy   Implying a woman is sexually loose may be ridiculously archaic but remains a potent, and highly effective tool to dissemble her and her credibility. It is dirty and it works. There is, still, no male equivalent of slut-shaming; the implication that if someone is promiscuous they are of low…

Fiona Patten MP, Leader of the Reason Party is calling for a Minister for Loneliness to be instated in Victoria Government. Loneliness is growing in Australia. In 2016, 82.5% of people admitted to feeling lonely. [1] The average number of close friends Australians have has almost halved in 13 years, from 6.4 close friends to just…

The Friday Wrap with Victorian Liberal MP and Shadow Minister for Education Tim Smith and Australian Reason Party Leader and Victorian Reason MLC Fiona Patten.

Today Victorian Upper House will debate the Justice Legislation Miscellaneous Amendment Bill 2018 which introduces a mandatory sentencing regime.   Fiona Patten MP, Leader of the Reason Party and member for the Northern Metropolitan Region, is deeply concerned by the proposed changes. Ms Patten said “Our frontline workers place themselves in harm’s way to save…

With 140 people treated for overdoses in three months, the room has been hailed a success. But a change of government could see the trial scuppered in an instant.   At Melbourne’s first-ever safe-injecting room, people who come here to use heroin sometimes accidentally drop their stash into the large bin that sits against the…

By Benjamin Preiss Photo: Jason South Laura Chipp believes she has some inside knowledge that’ll give her an edge in an election campaign on law and order. But the daughter of Democrats founder Don Chipp, who famously vowed to “keep the bastards honest”, will not run on a platform of cracking down on youth crime at the November…

Although the audio was bleeped out of Fiona Patten’s video, it was still rejected by Snapchat. (AAP) A Victorian politician’s use of a certain word in a video ad has been rejected by social media platform Snapchat.   Social media platform Snapchat may be known for lewd photo swapping but a risque joke by a…

Uncommon Sense – Triple R FM | Presented by Amy Mullins Fiona Patten MLC, Founder and Leader of Reason Party (formerly The Sex Party) and parliamentarian, discusses her memoir, ‘Sex, Drugs and the Electoral Roll: My unlikely journey from sex worker to Member of Parliament’. Broadcast on 11 September 2018. https://soundcloud.com/uncommonsense-rrr/interview-with-fiona-patten

By Tony Wright   Fiona Patten, libertarian, social reformer, politician and long-time advocate for the sex industry, leans back in her chair, takes a sip of her Campari and soda and lets loose a throaty laugh. “Well, yes, I have written a book, haven’t I?” she chuckles. “It’s just that while I was writing it, it…

 By ROSS FITZGERALD COLUMNIST Most political memoirs should come with a warning that there might be boring bits. Fiona ­Patten’s is anything but boring. Indeed, and I know this is a big call, it may well be the most unusual and provocative political memoir to written to date by a sitting member of an Australian…

Drive with Rafael Epstein

Leader of the Reason Party and Northern Metropolitan MP Fiona Patten has called out MPs for being more focused on each other than they are on public good and policy making.   Over the last decade public engagement and trust in politicians in Australia has fallen to a record low, with 74% of the public…

From sex worker to politician Seven Network 27 August 2018 She paved the most unlikely path to politics, Canberra born Fiona Patten has gone from sex worker to politician.

Media Release Tuesday 21 August 2018   Leader of the Reason Party and Northern Metropolitan MP Fiona Patten has thrown her support behind tomorrow’s Australian Dental Association Victorian Branch (ADAVB) strike, which will protest against huge public dental waiting times and lack of access to dental care.   The Victorian Oral Health Alliance estimates that…

The Morning Show with Larry Emdur and Kylie Gillies Air Date: 21 AUG 2018  

MEDIA RELEASE Leader of the Reason Party and Northern Metropolitan MP Fiona Patten’s strategy for new integrity and transparency rules for politicians, has been reaffirmed by a new survey conducted by Griffith University and Transparency International Australia. The survey, of 2,218 adults, revealed that trust and confidence in all levels of government fell in 2017…

Caitlin Guilfoyle, AAP news.com.au   FORMER governor-general Peter Hollingworth says he is yet to be approached by police, who are looking into claims he failed to act on sexual abuse allegations. His comments came after Queensland police said they were reviewing allegations against Dr Hollingworth. The matter relates to claims Dr Hollingworth failed to act…

Victoria remains the only jurisdiction in Australia to have voluntary assisted dying (VAD) laws after the Senate last night rejected a private members bill on the matter.   But this could be in jeopardy.   In November 2017, Leader of the Reason Party and Northern Metropolitan MP Fiona Patten led the charge for Victoria to…

IN STUDIO WITH NEIL MITCHELL – 14/08/2018 Fiona Patten says she’s not ashamed of anything she’s done in her life and has no regrets sharing it all publicly in her new book. The Reason Party leader has penned a memoir – Sex, Drugs and the Electoral Roll – and it’s fair to say nothing was…

Leader of the Reason Party and Northern Metropolitan MP Fiona Patten today announced her plan for new integrity and transparency rules for politicians – after a week of painful point-scoring and finger-pointing in parliament.   “Debate in both houses today, where the major parties accused each other of dishonest and fraudulent conduct, achieved nothing for…

By Richard Willingham and Ben Knight Disgraced former governor-general Peter Hollingworth has been named in several complaints to the Anglican diocese of Melbourne over his continuing status as a bishop in the church. The complaints have been made by survivors of abuse at the hands of Anglican clergy and teaching staff in the Brisbane diocese, where Dr Hollingworth…

  The Electoral Matters Committee in a joint investigative committee in the Victorian Parliament. It was asked by the Legislative Assembly on the 21 February, 2017 to specifically examine: – Electoral and civics education, the Victorian Electoral Commission’s (VEC’s) community engagement programs and other best practice approaches used by the VEC, other Australian electoral commissions,…

Leader of the Reason Party and Northern Metropolitan MP Fiona Patten has urged our religious institutions to set new standards in the way they address institutional child abuse.   “The maxim ‘justice not only needs to be done, but must be seen to be done’ should be the standard that the church adopts,” Ms Patten…

Presented by Damien Carrick for the Law Report, ABC Radio National Image: From left to right Damien Carrick, Associate Professor Luke Beck, Ron Merkel QC, Emeritus Professor Gillian Triggs, Fiona Patten MP, Morgan Begg IPA (James Pattison, Monash University supplied) Listen now (Link will open in new window) In Australia the issue of religious freedom has become a recurring theme…

  PETER WILMOTH | AUG 2, 2018 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…

CBD residents last month heard first-hand what their parliamentary representatives have so far achieved and what their future priorities were. Speaking at Residents 3000’s monthly forum on July 5 were local MHR Adam Bandt, MLA Ellen Sandell and MLC Fiona Patten. Residents 3000 runs monthly forums and intends to check in again with the parliamentarians…

THE political memoirs of Fiona Patten will be very unlike most. Scandalous tales of drug use and brothel work and, apparently, unexpected uses for a zucchini. Except these stories, set to be released in a couple of months, don’t scandalise the politician who, by conventional thinking, should be doing her best to cover them up….

Reason Party MP Fiona Patten says she doesn’t think there’s an issue with her new billboard using a swear word to make a point. The billboard on Spencer Street reads “A politician who knows who to get s**t done” with letters ‘sh’ crossed out. Tom Elliott questioned the slogan on 3AW Drive. Ms Patten said…

IN a small, inner-city suburb of Melbourne, drug use is rampant and flagrant. But the solution has caused division among locals. Rohan Smith @ro_smith news.com.au HIGH-rise housing commission flats tower over Lennox St in North Richmond. There’s a pub across the road, graffiti scribbled all over an adjacent laneway and signs of drug use everywhere. This is…

On Monday, Fiona Patten invited the Northern Metro residents to a Q&A. The evening was hugely popular with residents that were unable to attend submitting questions via email and Facebook. The MC for the night was the wonderful Rachel Payne, General Manager of EROS. Resident’s arrived about 7pm for a meet and greet before heading…

I LOVE asking questions, I have a very inquisitive nature. Actually, sometimes I wish I could switch it off! But … it has taken me all over the world, into several careers and made me who I am today. What I love most about asking questions is getting the response, which opens up new questions I can ask. If there’s a question I…

Later today Labor will introduce their Electoral Legislation Amendment Bill to the Upper House. A Bill originally prepared by the major parties, for the major parties, and so heavily weighted in their favour that it would have ended minor party politics in Victoria.   Fiona has secured the following amendments to correct this:   Election…

This week the Prime Minister confirmed victims of child sexual abuse will receive a national apology.  The Attorney–General said priests should be forced to report individuals that have confessed to child abuse crimes. The Social Services Minister called for criminal laws in regards to reporting child sexual abuse to be nationalised. And the Church responded…

The Fifth Estate is a live journalism series by Sally Warhaft, now in its sixth year at the Wheeler Centre.  Sally Warhaft is a Melbourne broadcaster, anthropologist and writer. She is a former editor of the Monthly magazine and the author of the bestselling book Well May We Say: The Speeches that Made Australia. She was joined by…

Fiona Patten welcome the new metropolitan train timetable which will deliver more weekday services, including express services, on the South Morang Line. Ms Patten has been calling on the government for better connectivity on the South Morang train line and is delighted by the recent announcement.   Back in September 2017, Ms Patten moved a…

By Laura Turner • A Current Affair Reporter In the winding narrow streets, Lisbon in Portugal is a city that tells a story of both tragedy and triumph. It’s the city that spearheaded one of the most controversial public policy reforms in the world, and despite the risk of this tiny country ending up with…

KRISTINE ZIWICA Women’s Agenda Fiona Patten, the Victorian cross-bencher who has led change on abortion, assisted dying and drug reform, talks to Kristine Ziwica on what has made her such an effective independent politician, the need for more women of all stripes to enter politics and her high hopes for a new political movement in Australia….