Notices of motion

669 MS PATTEN — To move — That this House

notes that —

(1) Opioid Agonist Therapy (OAT) is the gold standard treatment for opioid dependence, it reduces substance use, overdose risk, drug-related criminal offending and mortality among patients while improving health and social outcomes;

(2) traditional OAT medications, such as methadone and buprenorphine are effective for many patients, but not all opioid dependent people find benefit;

(3) in Australia, there has been no alternative treatments for this group, however, several countries including Canada, Switzerland and the Netherlands provide hydromorphone as a Supervised Injectable Opioid Treatment (SIOT) to great effect;

(4) SIOT involves the prescription and administration of a short-acting, injectable opioid medication on-site by the patient, supervised by a medical professional which is strictly regulated, take-home administration is not allowed;

(5) several Therapeutic Goods Administration-approved hydromorphone products including injectable formulations are already available in Australia as such hydromorphone will face few regulatory barriers for use in the treatment of opioid dependence;

(6) importantly, the administration of a prescription medication in place of unlawfully obtained heroin reduces the nexus between heroin use and crime, and significantly improves patient safety;

and calls on the Government to develop interim clinical guidelines for SOIT and implement a 12-month, 50 patient, hydromorphone trial at North Richmond’s Medically Supervised Injecting Room.

[Notice given on 28 October 2021].

654 MS PATTEN — To move — That this House

notes that —

(1) loneliness has emerged as one of the most serious public health challenges being faced around the world;

(2) loneliness is a better predictor of premature death than physical inactivity, obesity or smoking 15 cigarettes a day;

(3) lonely Australians have significantly worse health status than Australians who do not experience loneliness;

(4) according to the 2018 Australian Loneliness Report, amongst Australian adults, one in four are lonely, nearly 30 per cent rarely or never feel part of a group of friends and 22 per cent rarely or never feel like they have someone to talk to;

(5) the 2019 Young Australians Loneliness Survey found that more than half of young Australians felt lonely sometimes or always;

(6) loneliness was a growing health challenge before COVID-19, but has been exacerbated by it;

(7) one in two Australian residents reported feeling lonelier since 2019, with those who reported feeling more lonely also reporting more depression and higher social anxiety;

(8) addressing loneliness is integral to Victoria’s COVID-19 recovery;

(9) in 2018 the United Kingdom government appointed a dedicated Minister for Loneliness and published the world’s first loneliness strategy;

(10) in January 2020, the first Loneliness Annual Report outlined progress in the United Kingdom as a result of 60 commitments made in 2018 in establishing that ministry;

and calls on the Victorian Government to create a dedicated ministerial portfolio for Loneliness.

[Notice given on 14 October 2021]

594 MS PATTEN — To move — That this House —

(1) recognises that —

(a) in response to the activism and lived experiences of Grace Tame, Chanel Contos and Brittany Higgins, it is now more important than ever that consent is taught in schools;

(b) the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare reported increased rates of sexual assault by more than 30 per cent, whilst in Victoria, the Crime Statistics Agency reported an increase of sexual offences by 45 per cent;

(c) the teaching of the Relationships and Sexuality Education (RSE) program is patchy and inconsistent, with the quality of delivery varying between schools and the program lacks adequate teacher training and clear resources to provide clear and consistent sex education;

(d) we cannot teach young people to have conversations about consent, nor equip them with the tools to effectively give and withdraw consent, without providing them with the language to discuss sex and pleasure;

(e) sex education programs need more comprehensive content to cover a wider range of sexual health matters, including material that supports diverse genders, sexualities and disabilities;

(2) calls on the Government to provide adequate funding to improve the RSE program, with further support directed towards —

(a) education and training of teachers;

(b) support to teachers for ongoing program delivery;

(d) a more specific curriculum that explicitly establishes requirements for what must be taught; and

(e) direct funding for outsourcing of sex education in all Victorian schools.

[Notice given on 23 June 2021].

528 MS PATTEN — To move — That this House —

(1) notes —

(a) the enormous contribution regional Victoria makes to the state and national economic strength, and our unique way of life;

(b) that regional Victorians, from Bright to Mildura, Portland to Wodonga, Robinvale to Bairnsdale and everywhere in between, should have a more substantial voice in our Parliamentary process;

(2) requires the Procedure Committee to inquire into, assess and report by Wednesday, 8 September 2021, on ways that the Parliament can effectively ensure that the concerns of regional Victorians are heard at a Parliamentary level, including but not limited to —

(a) investigating the frequency of regional sittings by both Houses of the Victorian Parliament;

(b) ensuring a larger proportion of Parliamentary Committee deliberations and public hearings are held in regional locations and broadcast;

(c) assuring that outcomes for regional Victoria are trusted by the broader community by giving consideration to the concept of citizens’ juries, whereby everyday Victorians participate in the process of government decision-making;

(d) reforming parliamentary petitions to ensure greater participation by all Victorians; and

(e) any other matters affecting the way the Parliament communicates with regional and rural Victorians.

[Notice given on 29 April 2021].

285 MS PATTEN — To move — That this House —

(1) notes that —

(a) Dr Kylie Moore-Gilbert, an Australian-British Middle East expert at the University of Melbourne’s Asia Institute, has been held in Iran’s Evin Prison in Tehran since October 2018 and is currently in solitary confinement;

(b) Dr Moore-Gilbert was convicted of espionage, sentenced to ten years jail and had a recent appeal which failed;

(c) Evin Prison has a reputation for brutal treatment of inmates, including mock executions, beatings and psychological torture;

(d) Australian Foreign Minister, Senator the Hon Marise Payne has publicly rejected the false charges against Dr Moore-Gilbert and has lobbied Iranian authorities to release her without success;

(e) there are reports that Dr Moore-Gilbert is suffering mentally and physically and was recently on a hunger strike; and

(2) urges the Premier, Hon Daniel Andrews MP, and Special Minister of State, Hon Gavin Jennings MLC, to raise the matter of Dr Moore-Gilbert at the Council of Australian Governments in order to strengthen diplomatic efforts to secure Dr Moore‑Gilberts’ release from custody.

[Notice given on 17 March 2020].

269 MS PATTEN — To move — That this House —

(1) notes that National news agency Australian Associated Press (AAP) has been an essential part of the media landscape in Australia for 85 years;

(2) notes that owners News Corp and Nine have made the decision to shut the company resulting in the loss of 180 crucial editorial staff; and

(3) urges the owners, as well as other shareholders including Australian Community Media and Seven West Media, to reassign staff from AAP to other news services throughout their respective organisations.

[Notice given on 4 March 2020].

262 MS PATTEN — To move — That this House —

(1) notes that the Government called a duck shooting season this year, despite overwhelming opposition due to extreme drought, bushfires and animal cruelty;

(2) further notes that this decision will have an irreversible impact on diminishing waterbird populations in Victoria; and

(3) condemns this shameful decision by the Andrews Labor Government.

[Notice given on 3 March 2020].

242 MS PATTEN — To move — That this House —

(1) acknowledges that journalist, editor, publisher and activist, Mr Julian Assange, is an Australian citizen and former long-time resident of Melbourne, who in the 1990s was a technical adviser to the Victoria Police Child Exploitation Unit, assisting in multiple prosecutions;

(2) notes that Mr Assange is currently on remand at HM Prison Belmarsh in the United Kingdom, and is facing an extradition request by the United States of America relating to an indictment for alleged computer intrusion and a charge of violating the Espionage Act of 1917 (USA) and faces an effective death penalty if found guilty of the charges;

(3) recognises that the possible extradition of Mr Assange sets a dangerous precedent where Australian citizens, particularly journalists, can be charged with a crime and extradited by a foreign nation having not actually been in that country;

(4) acknowledges that a free, open and democratic press is a fundamental tenet of our society;

(5) supports the rights of whistle-blowers to provide material to journalists in the public interest and the rights of journalists to publish that information; and

(6) calls on the Premier, Hon Daniel Andrews MP, to urge his federal colleagues to take action to prevent Mr Assange’s extradition to the United States of America and to demand that the federal government treat him like all other Australians who require consular and other assistance when facing legal proceedings overseas.

[Notice given on 18 February 2020].

238 MS PATTEN — To move — That this House —

(1) notes —

(a) electric vehicles are environmentally friendly, energy efficient and reduce our use of fossil fuels;

(b) electric vehicles have far fewer moving parts than a conventional gasoline powered vehicle that requires liquid fuels leading to drastically reduced maintenance costs;

(c) sales of electric vehicles, including hybrid plug-ins, have jumped three-fold in Australia in the past year, with 6,718 vehicles purchased in 2019 compared to 2,216 in 2018, whilst sales of combustion engine vehicle declined by 7.8 per cent in the same period;

(d) Australians, and Victorians in particular, are keen early adopters of new technology and Victoria should lead the way in providing infrastructure in support of electric vehicles;

(2) urges the Government to work with the electric vehicle industry to help provide levers that will fast-track the infrastructure required to support automated and zero emission vehicles;

and calls on the Government to adopt a policy of converting 50 per cent of its vehicle fleet to electric vehicles within three years.

[Notice given on 6 February 2020].

228 MS PATTEN — To move — That this House —

(1) notes that—

(a) the music festival season has commenced with hundreds of thousands expected to attend events;

(b) young people, particularly when attending festivals, will use drugs and our main concern should be their wellbeing;

(d) the 2019 Victorian Labor Conference unanimously passed an Urgency Motion for a “harm reduction and community health approach for alcohol, tobacco and other drug policy” which called on the Government to examine innovative strategies, such as pill testing, that “have been trialled elsewhere in a bid to save Victorian lives”;

(2) calls on the Government to adhere to their own platform and immediately commence a pill testing trial;

(3) congratulates —

(a) the Animal Justice Party, Greens, Liberal Democrats and the Independent Member for Western Metropolitan Region, Dr Catherine Cumming MLC, who also support the introduction of a pill testing pilot program;

(b) Liberal Member for Northern Metropolitan Region, Mr Craig Ondarchie MLC, for his open-minded, evidence-based approach to health policy by calling on his Liberal colleagues to review their pill testing policy and in the Herald Sun on 28 November 2019 said “I want to know more…I want to be fully informed…I am not going to take a philosophical view for or against”;

and calls on the Shadow Health Minister, Ms Georgie Crozier MLC, to listen to her colleagues, seek further briefings on pill testing and treat drug use as a health issue, not a criminal one.

[Notice given on 28 November 2019].

Bills:

CHILDREN, YOUTH AND FAMILIES AMENDMENT (OUT OF HOME CARE
AGE) BILL 2020 — (Ms Patten)

CRIMES AMENDMENT (ABOLITION OF BLASPHEMY) BILL 2019 — (Ms
Patten)

DRUGS, POISONS AND CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES AMENDMENT (PILL
TESTING PILOT FOR DRUG HARM REDUCTION) BILL 2019 — (Dr Ratnam and Ms Patten)

ROAD SAFETY AMENDMENT (MEDICINAL CANNABIS) BILL 2019 — (Ms
Patten)

RACIAL AND RELIGIOUS TOLERANCE AMENDMENT BILL 2019 — (Ms
Patten)

DRUGS, POISONS AND CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES AMENDMENT (CANNABIS
REGULATION) BILL 2019 — (Ms Patten)

SPENT CONVICTIONS BILL 2019 — (Ms Patten)