Cam Wilson

An increasingly organised online COVID-19 denialist, anti-vaccine group is spamming Victorian politicians’ inboxes with pseudo-legal emails to try stop public health measures.

Online activist group Reignite Democracy Australia (RDA) is encouraging its followers to send hundreds of emails that they incorrectly believe will force politicians to oppose extending Victoria’s current state of emergency period.

RDA, led by Monica Smit, opposes vaccines, lockdowns, masks, COVID-19 testing and has even branched out into arguing against a gay conversion therapy ban — all based on conspiracy theories and misinformation.

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But the letters are having an effect: annoying politicians and their staff. A staff member for cross-bencher Fiona Patten told Gizmodo they had received hundreds of emails since mid-February.

“They aren’t achieving anything except making our jobs more difficult, as we miss actual emails that need to be responded to,” they said via email.

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Read the full article on Gizmodo’s website.

By Charles Purcell

Confronted by a rise in suicides amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Japan has just appointed its first Minister for Loneliness. “I hope to carry out activities to prevent social loneliness and isolation and to protect ties between people,” says the new minister, Tetsushi Sakamoto.

But Japan isn’t the first. Britain announced the world’s first minister for loneliness, Tracey Crouch, in 2018. When I interviewed her the next year, she told me: “When I was appointed, the number of people that were coming forward and saying, ‘Thank you, I have felt enormously lonely, but I’ve been too afraid to say it’ is something that shows that we should be talking about loneliness and we shouldn’t be ashamed. What we should be ashamed of is if we don’t have a framework around them to support them.”

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In Queensland, a parliamentary inquiry now aims to address loneliness, after COVID-19 lockdowns left many feeling isolated. But it was back in 2018 that an Australian MP, Fiona Patten in the Victorian Parliament, proposed that her state should get its own minister for loneliness. That was well before the pandemic lockdowns in Victoria. Perhaps now is a good time to take Patten up on the idea, whether in state or federal governments.

Access the full article on The Age’s website.

By Sumeyya Ilanbey

Photo credit: Eddie Jim

The Andrews government is close to brokering a deal with a key upper house MP to extend Victoria’s state of emergency and break the political impasse.

State of emergency powers would be extended for three months instead of the nine months sought by the government under a compromise being hammered out between Health Minister Martin Foley and Reason Party MP Fiona Patten.

The proposal would also commit the government to a “traffic light” system that would allow parts of the state to remain open in a future lockdown, rather than imposing blanket restrictions on the entire state…

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“Nine months is another overreach from the government,” Ms Patten told The Age.Preview (opens in a new tab)

“We need laws that allow us to stay open, safely, not be constantly living in a state of emergency. This pandemic won’t be over any time soon, so it’s good to see that the government is recognising that we need a long-term solution.”

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Read the full article on The Age’s website.

By state political reporter Richard Willingham

Crown Resorts’ suitability to run Melbourne’s casino will be tested by a new royal commission in Victoria, after a damning NSW inquiry found the gambling giant was not suitable to hold a casino licence.

Former federal court judge and senior barrister Raymond Finkelstein QC has been appointed commissioner.

The royal commission must report back by August 1 this year…

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Reason Party MP Fiona Patten has pushed for a parliamentary probe into the gambling giant.

Read the full article on the ABC’s website.

By Sumeyya Ilanbey

Victorian Health Minister Martin Foley is meeting key crossbench MP Fiona Patten at 2.30pm AEDT to begin the process of breaking the political impasse over Victoria’s state of emergency laws.

The Andrews government is seeking a nine-month extension to the powers to allow it to enforce coronavirus-specific rules, such as mandatory mask-wearing, hotel quarantine for international arrivals and 14-day isolation for confirmed cases and their close contacts.

However, the government is unlikely to pass the crucial legislation in its current form in the upper house, where it relies on the votes of at least three crossbench MPs.

MPs in the lower house are debating the government’s bill on Thursday and Friday, when it is set to pass because Labor commands a majority…

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Read the full article on The Age’s website

Crossbench MP Fiona Patten says she won’t support Premier Daniel Andrews proposal to extend the state of emergency until the end of the year.

The Victorian Premier wants emergency powers extended until December 15 in order to manage the pandemic.

Reason Party leader MP Fiona Patten says it’s too long.

“Victoria’s the only state that has to come back to parliament to debate this,” she told Tom Elliott on 3AW Drive.

“I appreciate that we need something but I don’t think we can live in a constant state of emergency.”

Click PLAY to hear the interview below

By Alex White
Picture: NCA NewsWire

A proposed extension to Victoria’s state of emergency looks set to fail in the state’s upper house, however Daniel Andrews will meet with at least one key upper house crossbencher this afternoon to discuss potential changes.

Reason Party leader MP Fiona Patten announced on Wednesday she would vote against the bill, and urged the government to bring forward legislation specific to the pandemic.

“When the government sought a 12-month extension in September last year I rejected it,” said Ms Patten.

“I negotiated a six-month extension, as well as other transparency measures such as the monthly tabling of documents that sit behind the justification for the continuing state of emergency. This was based on the fact the government would bring forward specific legislation to deal with the ongoing pandemic. They have not.”

“This pandemic isn’t going anywhere fast, we are going to be dealing with this well into next year,” said Ms Patten.

“We need laws that allow the government to continue to protect public health but that lets us live in a state of ‘COVID-normal’ – not a state of emergency.”

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Access the full article on the Herald Sun’s website.

Reason Coalition MPs Fiona Patten and Ali Cupper have today made it clear to the Victorian Government they will vote against the current State of Emergency extension bill before Parliament.

“When the government sought a 12-month extension in September last year I rejected it,” said Ms Patten, Member for Northern Metropolitan and Leader of the Reason Coalition.

“I negotiated a six-month extension, as well as other transparency measures such as the monthly tabling of documents that sit behind the justification for the continuing state of emergency. This was based on the fact the government would bring forward specific legislation to deal with the ongoing pandemic. They have not.”

Deputy Leader of the Reason Coalition, Mildura MP Ali Cupper, also said she was unable to vote for a state of emergency extension in its current form.

“The government hasn’t properly recognised the different circumstances of regional Victoria,” said Ms Cupper.

“I have always advocated for a more proportional approach and believe specific legislation is the best way to achieve this. There needs to be mechanisms in place to ensure regional areas like Mildura, which haven’t had a COVID-19 case in almost 12 months, are not plunged into a five-day hard lockdown without notice because of cases in Greater Melbourne. Victorians in rural and regional settings deserve better.”

Ms Cupper said her community had been rightly upset at recent closures that bought lockdown measures into effect across the state.

“While we all understand the need to protect public health, there needs to be some common sense here,” Ms Cupper remarked.

“I believe a traffic-light system which allows areas of lower risk to have lighter restrictions, while locking down suburbs or postcodes that have outbreaks, allows for the nuance needed to protect public health while balancing the needs of communities.” 

The government’s SOE extension bill is set for introduction into the house this week and due for debate in the Legislative Council on March 2. With the government short of the votes it needs to pass the legislation, Ms Patten and Ms Cupper will meet the Premier and Health Minister this week to see if a compromise can be reached.

“This pandemic isn’t going anywhere fast, we are going to be dealing with this well into next year,” said Ms Patten. “We need laws that allow the government to continue to protect public health but that lets us live in a state of ‘Covid-normal’ – not a state of emergency.”

— ENDS —

Interview with Fiona Patten, Reason Party Leader. Patten discusses concerns over the extension of the state of emergency, as well as the issue of regional rates.

Click PLAY below to listen to the whole conversation