By Noel Towell and Michael Fowler, photo by Wayne Taylor

Victoria’s medicinal cannabis users could be free as early as next year to drive with the substance in their bodies as the state government considers major changes to drug-driving laws.

In an Australian first, the state government could begin to treat medicinal cannabis the same as other medications as part of a plan to be drafted over coming months in consultation with MPs, police and doctors and expected to be implemented early next year…

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Ms Patten said there were about 4000 users of medicinal cannabis in Victoria who could instantly benefit from changes to the law.

“Australia is the only jurisdiction that prevents medicinal cannabis patients from driving 24/7 and it is simply unfair,” Ms Patten told The Age.

“Medicinal cannabis patients should be treated in the exact same way as any other patient who is prescribed a medication and should be allowed to drive if it is safe to do so.”

Read full article on The Age’s website.

By Elias Clure

The Victorian Government’s coronavirus omnibus bill has passed Parliament, extending the state of emergency until April, and giving police new powers to enforce measures to contain the spread of coronavirus.

The bill was passed after the Government abandoned controversial sections that would have given authorised officers the power to detain a person if it was suspected they were going to breach emergency directions.

Sections that would have allowed the Government to appoint anyone as an authorised officer were also tightened, before the bill was put to Parliament’s Upper House.

Reason Party MP Fiona Patten said the amendments to the bill addressed her concerns about Government overreach.

“I think they do go to concerns that were raised by so many constituents, but also the Law Institute, the Human Rights Commission, and all of them have indicated they are now supportive of the bill,” she said…

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Read the full article on The ABC’s website.

Interview with Fiona Patten, leader, Reason Party. Trioli mentions someone has pointed out the powers in the omnibus bill were set to lapse. Patten says they are a solution searching for a problem.

Click PLAY below to hear more.

Leader of the Reason Party and Member for Northern Metro, Fiona Patten MP has said a disappointing federal budget leaves plenty to do for the State Government.

“The federal budget failed women and it has failed public housing,” 

“Victorian Treasurer Tim Pallas must pick up the pieces otherwise our state is destined to be shaped by Morrison’s vision,” said Ms Patten.

“Women carried the country through the first stage of the pandemic – teachers, nurses, aged care professionals – and this budget has thrown them all under the bus. 

“Grattan and the Banks pleaded with the Government to invest in social housing but they were ignored – Tim Pallas shouldn’t use that as an excuse not to but as a reason to invest in our public housing stock,” said Ms Patten.

“The Feds focused on homeowners and the construction industry, Victoria must support our renters and our social service industry, doubling down on Frydenberg’s gamble would be a mistake,”

The Reason Party leader announced her budget priorities last week which included $2 billion for social housing, $200m for community mental health, and a sharp increase in funding for social workers, family violence support staff, and alcohol & other drug addiction specialists.

“Every economist has said we have to go hard and we have to go early, we could have achieved this if we funded social services –  it would create thousands of middle income jobs particularly for women, months before any construction project starts,” she said.

The restriction of exercise to a radius of five kilometres from a person’s home has significantly concentrated the exercising population, to such a degree that it is difficult to effectively socially distance in some areas at peak times.

Local routes have become more crowded than ever as, in the absence of other options, runners, cyclists, and walkers flock to the same roads and paths within their permitted radius. Given cycling and running are strenuous activities, many people in those areas are unmasked.

In addition to the increased risk of infection, there has been a notable increase in tension between users of the same crowded spaces. We expect that this unsafe concentration of exercisers will only be amplified by the increase in permitted exercise time from one to two hours.

The current restrictions deprive Melbourne Metropolitan residents of the opportunity to effectively socially distance while exercising. We do not propose that people should be permitted to drive beyond the five-kilometre radius for the purpose of exercise, rather exercise be permitted beyond this radius. We also do not propose that persons exercising beyond their five-kilometre radius should be permitted to stop and attend shops, including cafes or other hospitality venues, unless in the case of an emergency.

This petition requests that the Legislative Council call on the Government to amend the COVID-19 five-kilometre radius restriction to allow Victorians living within the Metropolitan Melbourne area to exercise beyond a person’s restricted radius within the permitted two-hour window, so that social distancing practices can be maintained while exercising.

SIGN THE PETITION

In this fourth episode of the Spring Series 2020, I’m joined once more by Fiona Patten MLC, leader of the Reason Party in the Victorian Parliament.

We talk about many things including the politicisation of the Quarantimes in Victoria, how to handle a tsunami of email, honey, her certificate of appreciation from the supposed Satanic Network Victoria, religious discrimination, sex work, and of course Donald Trump.

Fiona Patten was previously on Public House Forum 4 in 2016 and her own Probe episode in February 2020.

More at https://stilgherrian.com

By Rachael Dexter

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has signalled his government is willing to negotiate with crossbench MPs to get a controversial new law through parliament that would give state officials the power to detain people considered a high risk of spreading COVID-19.

Under the proposed law, health authorities could forcibly detain people they suspect would be likely to spread the virus. The rules could be applied to conspiracy theorists who refuse to self-isolate or severely drug-affected or mentally impaired people who do not have the capacity to quarantine.

The body representing Victoria’s barristers has written to the Andrews government warning the proposed laws could breach the state’s human rights charter and allow citizens to be placed in arbitrary detention.

The Omnibus (Emergency Measures) Bill, which passed the government-controlled lower house on Friday also allows the government to expand its ranks of authorised officers to include PSOs, WorkSafe inspectors and non-government workers.

The opposition will not support the bill meaning the government will need support from the crossbench to get it through parliament’s upper house. Reason Party leader Fiona Patten will oppose the bill and the Greens have expressed opposition to components of the law….

Read full article on The Age’s website.

Interview with Fiona Patten, leader, Reason Party.

Macdonald says senior Victorian bureaucrats, police and emergency chiefs are continuing to experience collective amnesia as they deliver evidence to the state government’s inquiry into the Covid-19 hotel quarantine debacle.

“It’s really quite extraordinary, and obviously not acceptable”, says Ms Patten.

Click PLAY below to hear more

Roger Vaughan

Prominent legal figures want the Victorian government to change its controversial COVID-19 Omnibus bill, calling some of the provisions “unprecedented, excessive and open to abuse”.

Reason Party MP Fiona Patten also will not vote for the bill unless there are amendments…

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“This will be something that I would probably want voted on clause by clause and I will not support these amendments to create these new powers because they’re just not needed,” she told 3AW on Tuesday.

Earlier this month, Ms Patten voted for the government’s six-month extension of emergency powers.

The legislation was watered down from 12 months and only passed after negotiations with Ms Patten and other crossbenchers.

Read the full article on the Canberra Times website.

Fiona Patten told Neil Mitchell that much of the bill was worth supporting for public health reasons, but admitted it needed further inspection.

The Reason Party won’t be voting in favour of it.

“Not in its current form,” she said.

Click PLAY below to hear more on 3AW Mornings