Optimism in Covid-19
Yesterday was a low day for me. I know it was an awful day for many others, especially survivors of sexual abuse.
These days are testing for most of us in ways we could not have foreseen even a couple of weeks ago. I have been on my own for a number of weeks and working at home for two. My family is safe interstate and I am very fortunate to still be working.
I am generally a pretty happy person but these past few days have surprised me. Yesterday I felt particularly sad. I have felt quite alone despite the numerous zoom meetings and catch-ups. After a day of sitting at my computer writing, reading and doing Zoom meetings, it’s the last place I want to be in the evenings.
I am lucky my days are busy but not in the way they were. I thrive on work and most importantly people. The challenges have been unexpected. The routine of home detention for one. Each day brings different issues but the days are like Groundhog days. I get up early, listen to the news, look at emails and drink coffee made at home. The rest of the day then consists of telephone calls and video meetings.
Because the pools are shut, I can’t swim anymore (my longest passion in life) so I am obsessed by the pedometer on my phone. In the afternoon or evening, I walk and call friends and family more than I ever did. I haven’t ordered take away in weeks. Before Covid 19, I barely ate at home. I barely was at home! I met different people everyday and on citizenship ceremony days shook hands and hugged hundreds. Now I leave the house once, maybe twice a day, just to walk and shop. I haven’t stockpiled any food or groceries and while I have gone to the local independent supermarket a couple of times, I shop locally now.
Each night I make myself a cheeky snack of parmesan crisps. Basically, I grate some parmesan, mix in some chilli flakes and pepper and spread it into thin rounds on baking paper and pop in the oven for four minutes.
Like many, life is starting to feel almost unreal and the announcement that the Reserve Bank will make billions of dollars by changing a few zeros on their computer, seems even more like we’re in some virtual reality.
As well as being a happy person I am generally an optimist. I can see that people are spending more time with their families. They’re out on the local creek walks or playing chasies on the oval and for most, this is great but for others less so.
Economic stress, job loss and fear of the future is a bad formula and it is anticipated that family violence rates are erupting but right now the crisis phone lines are ominously quiet.
The streets are solemn, the playgrounds are taped up, the trams, roads and buses are almost empty.
I have been speaking to people every day who can’t access Centrelink payments, who are on the verge of homelessness, or who just have no idea how to spend so much time with their children and/or partners.
So yesterday was a difficult one and I am sure there will be more but I woke up today thinking about whether there will be positive outcomes from this and what could Covid give apart from a virus? Could this be a tipping point of sorts?
Many of us have found new ways to work. Employers are realising that staff can work effectively and productively from home. What if the trams and the roads were always quieter because many of us spent a day or two working from home?
We all know the effects that school holidays have on congestion and imagine if that reduction of traffic was an everyday and permanent thing?
It could also mean that people could live in regional areas while holding down a city job. It could mean school runs and bedtimes would be less hectic. There are many people who can’t work at home including our wonderful health workers and our much missed hospitality workers but for the majority of us we could stay off the roads and trains during peak hour which would mean the trains and trams were used more consistently throughout the day and everyone would get a seat.
Currently in Victoria it is estimated around 25,000 people are homeless. Many of them are families escaping violence and older women. And right now there are about 35,000 hotel rooms that are largely empty. International and interstate visitor numbers are not expected to return to pre Covid numbers for some months or years. What if we secured some of these properties for six and 12 months? We could provide our vulnerable community with safe housing and the health services that they need to get back on their feet while building more housing as part of the post Covid stimulus. This could be the catalyst we need to solve homelessness. It provides us with the opportunity to roll out a housing first or housing plus model that every single expert around the world tells us is the most effective way to end homelessness.
The cost of problem gambling in Victoria is estimated to be a whopping $7billion a year. What if, when pubs and clubs re opened, we encouraged them to retire some of the poker machines or implement some harm reduction policies? No doubt there will be stimulus packages for business rolled out post Covid. They could provide an incentive for clubs to invest in live music and other activities and move away from gambling revenue. Machines don’t employ people but music, food, games do.
So today I’m encouraging everyone to be optimistic and think about what Covid could bring us and what it already has.
More reading:
Reason Joins Multi-Party Call for Covid-19 Government Oversight
Leader of the Reason Party and Member for Northern Metropolitan, Fiona Patten, has today joined with key crossbench colleagues to call on the Government to ensure the Victorian Parliament has proper oversight of decisions during the Covid -19 crisis.
“We all need to work together to flatten the curve, so I accept that during this period there will be extraordinary actions taken by the Government,” said Ms Patten.
“However, significant infringements on the civil liberties of all Victorians are occurring without the proper scrutiny of non-government members of the Parliament and that’s just not acceptable to the Reason Party.
“The Andrews Labor Government should not be afraid of analysis of their decision making – they should welcome it. In my view, the independents and minor party members are well placed to provide this oversight.”
Ms Patten noted that a multi-party committee is being convened at a federal parliamentary level for this exact purpose.
“The Premier should take the lead from his federal counterpart, Labor Leader Anthony Albanese, who has been at the forefront of the push for oversight by non-government members during this period.
“If the Government wants to bring the public along with them during this crisis, they need to be as open and as transparent as possible,” said Ms Patten.
Read the signed statement here:
Read the joint release here:
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To organise an interview with Fiona Patten, please phone Jorian directly.
Media Contact: Jorian Gardner
Phone: 0466 694 197
George Pell case: I believe you, Daniel Andrews tells child sex abuse victims
RACHEL BAXENDALE VICTORIAN POLITICAL REPORTER @rachelbaxendale, 📷: AAP
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has responded to the High Court’s unanimous quashing of Cardinal George Pell’s conviction by saying he believes “every single victim and survivor of child sex abuse”.
In a brief and carefully worded statement, Mr Andrews made it clear his sympathies did not lie with the 78-year-old man seven High Court judges found had been wrongfully imprisoned by Victoria for more than 400 days.
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Victorian upper-house MP Fiona Patten went further than Mr Andrews, noting her “great disappointment” at the High Court’s ruling and claiming justice had “not been served in this case”.
“Australians know the real truth about George Pell,” the Reason Party leader said in a statement. “No amount of holy water can wash the stain of child sexual abuse away from the Catholic Church. There have been other accusations against George Pell and they should be fully investigated.”
Read full article on The Australian.
Covid-19: Media Arrangements for Fiona Patten MP
Covid19: Media Arrangements for Fiona Patten MP
Not for Publication: Media Advice Only
Fiona Patten MP, Federal Leader of the Reason Party and Victorian Member for North Metropolitan Region, is available for media interviews during the Covid19 shutdown. Ms Patten has access to broadcast quality video call capability for television or online media outlets, whilst comment is always available via phone for radio, print and other outlets.
Fiona represents an area of some two million people in Melbourne’s North: From Melbourne’s CBD to Broadmeadows; Brunswick, Preston, and Coburg to Donnybrook and beyond. Features of her electorate include the MCG, Victorian Parliament House and Flemington Racecourse.
Ms Patten is Leader of the Reason Party (the political party formerly known as the Australian Sex Party). She is Chair of the Victorian Parliament’s Legal and Social Issues Committee that is currently undertaking inquiries into Homelessness, Sex Offender Management and the Use of Cannabis in Victoria. She is Chair of the Government Review into Sex Work Laws, and a key member of the Victorian Hemp Taskforce.
Fiona was instrumental in the introduction of Victoria’s Voluntary Assisted Dying legislation, the Safe Access Zones laws which provide for 150 metre no-protest zones around abortion clinics, the legalisation of ridesharing and the push for drug law reform, not only in Victoria, but across the nation. Recently Fiona was successful in her push to Increase the Age of State Care to 21, and in a historic first for the state helped shepherd in Victoria’s first Spent Convictions Scheme. She currently has legislation before the Victorian Parliament to abolish Blasphemy Laws and has been at the forefront of bringing the misdeeds of Crown Casino to the attention of the parliament and wider community.
Ms Patten currently has a best-selling autobiographical book Sex, Drugs and the Electoral Roll.
As a key member of the Victorian Parliamentary crossbench, Ms Patten offers a unique perspective on a wide range of current political and social issues and welcomes the opportunity to talk to all Australians during this difficult time.
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To organise an interview with Fiona Patten, please phone Jorian Gardner directly.
Media Contact: Jorian Gardner
Phone: 0466 694 197
Bring Back the Kiwi Safety Net
Tuesday, March 24, 2020
Media Release: Bring Back the Kiwi Safety Net
Leader of Reason and Member for the Northern Metropolitan Region, Fiona Patten, has called on the federal government to extend Centrelink benefits to New Zealanders in Australia for the duration of the Covid-19 pandemic. There are over 90,000 Kiwis living in Victoria.
“Thousands of Kiwi-Victorians lost their jobs this week, and we are making people choose between their community and their ability to eat,” said Ms Patten.
We shouldn’t be forcing thousands of hardworking Victorian taxpayers to the wall simply because they hold New Zealand citizenship.”
“Their country is in lock-down, and they will have to self-isolate for 14 days, if they have no support base, where will they live? How many will be forced into homelessness?”
Australians in New Zealand are eligible for welfare payments, but in 2001 the Howard Government cut many of the benefits available to New Zealanders in Australia.
“What we need to do to get through this is decency and kindness, Jacinda Ardern has not turned her back on Aussies and Scott Morrison should not turn his back on Kiwis” said Ms Patten.
The economic shutdown has forced many people into unemployment. Riza, 27, is a Kiwi who has been living and working in Australia for three years.
“If I were to go back home, I would have to start again,” said Riza.
“I have no friends or support network there, but I might not have any other choice. My whole life is in Australia, it’s just not that easy to get up and leave.”
The Northern Metro MP has called on the Victorian Premier to advocate on behalf of Victoria’s New Zealand population.
“Dan Andrews has been terrific in this crisis but he needs to step up for New Zealanders, who are an important part of our state, and demand an extension of welfare,” Ms Patten said.
“We could lose thousands of creative, hardworking people. It would be economic & social self-harm that would take Victoria a long time to recover from.”
As of Tuesday morning, 100,000 people had signed a Change.org petition calling on the government to extend Centrelink to New Zealanders.
“’Go home or starve’ is not in the ANZAC spirit,” added Ms Patten.
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To organise an interview with Fiona Patten, please phone Patrick Hargreaves directly.
COVID-19 update
Advice is fast-changing at the moment in relation to the Covid19 pandemic.
So to clarify, as of midday today a variety of businesses will either shutdown, or have their working arrangements severely affected.
Pubs, clubs, nightclubs, Crown Casino, and other licensed venues in hotels and pubs are shutdown. Add to that list gyms, indoor sporting venues, places of worship, cinemas and entertainment venues.
Restaurants and cafes will only be allowed to provide home delivery or takeaway services.
Victorian Schools will bring holidays forward and break as of tomorrow.
We’re working on a full list of links for services across the Northern Metro Region that can help, but in the meantime for latest government updates, including a list of business and other restrictions, go to www.dhhs.vic.gov.au/coronavirus
‘Broken’ Melbourne council faces sack
A council deemed “broken” by years of bitter feuds is set to become Victoria’s second local government to be sacked within two months.
The Andrews government has moved to dump Whittlesea Council in Melbourne’s outer north, after a monitor found its governance had “irretrievably collapsed”…
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Influential upper house crossbencher, the Reason Party’s Fiona Patten, said the government should be looking at other options rather than showing the entire council the door.
“Again it seems that we will be using a hammer to crack a walnut,” she told reporters.
Read full article on The Flinders News.
Sheed calls for community action to help alleviate homelessness
Returning unused housing to the market could be a “start” towards reducing homelessness, according to State Member for Shepparton Suzanna Sheed.
Ms Sheed said an ongoing investigation into homelessness by her office had revealed hundreds of unoccupied homes…
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“This multi-party committee chaired by Fiona Patten MP is doing valuable work in examining the causes and potential solutions to one of the most critical issues both locally and in our state,” Ms Sheed said.
Read full article on Riverine Herald.
Fixing laws to tackle rising hate in Victoria
By Tony Zhang
A coalition of union, civil society, faith-based and human rights groups has told the Andrews government they must take a stand against rising hate in the Victorian community.
The groups have given evidence on Wednesday to a parliamentary inquiry considering proposed changes to Victoria’s anti-vilification laws.
The inquiry was called in response to Fiona Patten’s private member’s bill proposing amendments to Victoria’s anti-vilification laws…
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This combined coalition will argue that Fiona Patten’s bill does not go far enough and will advocate for strong anti-vilification laws that can stop hate in its tracks.
Read full article on Lawyers Weekly.
Inquiry announced into ‘very high’ number of Victorian children going missing from state care
Victoria’s Commissioner for Children has announced an investigation into why hundreds of children are going missing from the state’s residential care system each year.
It follows an ABC report which revealed more than 600 children are reported missing from the state’s care each year, with the vast majority of them going missing from residential care…
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Reason Party MP Fiona Patten said children were being removed from their families because of abuse or serious risk of harm, but child protection workers were not considering whether children would be exposed to similar risks in residential care.
Read full article on the ABC.