MS PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (12:00:40) — My question is for the Minister for Planning, represented here by Minister Dalidakis, and it relates to the 290-metre floating gas terminal proposed for Western Port Bay. This has been raised in here before, but it was raised with me earlier this week. We know that Australia is the largest gas producer, and perversely we export so much that we now will be importing. So my question is: will the minister confirm that the Crib Point AGL gas import terminal will be subjected to a full environment effects statement process to ensure that the project is...

MS PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (12:01:21) — My question is for the Minister for Consumer Affairs, Gaming and Liquor Regulation, represented by Minister Dalidakis, and relates to massage parlours — not assuming you have any knowledge of them here. Right near my electorate office on Sydney Road, near the intersection with Albion Street, there are three massage parlours. If you head 500 metres north up Sydney Road to the intersection with Moreland Road, there are another three. It is a pattern that repeats itself not only along Sydney Road but right across Melbourne — in fact just straight metres from here along Bourke Street. My question for...

MS PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (14:38:45) — My constituency question is for the Minister for Public Transport. My constituent is a regular user of the Upfield bike path that runs along the Upfield train line, and he, like me, was pleased that the minister heeded the Reason Party's call to extend the pathway 800 metres to link the Upfield path to the Western Ring Road bike path. However, my constituent in consultation with VicRoads on this project has been informed that it will not be completed, or even started, until the next financial year. So I ask on behalf of my constituent: given the...

MS PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (14:28:16) — My question is for the Minister for Consumer Affairs, Gaming and Liquor Regulation, represented in the house by Minister Dalidakis, and it relates to poker machine reform. A recent Essential Media Communications poll which surveyed 1035 respondents found 63 per cent supported the introduction of $1 maximum bets and only 15 per cent opposed it or strongly opposed it. Importantly, an even stronger 69 per cent of regular machine gamblers backed this measure. This poll demonstrates the clear community support for a reform that I note has already been proposed twice by the Productivity Commission. So my question is: given that there...

MS PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (12:06:10) — My question is for the Minister for Families and Children, representing the Minister for Health. Women in Victoria have a lawful right to access a termination up until 24 weeks. However, I am increasingly contacted by women who have been unable to access terminations in public hospitals. These terminations are available in the private sector to those who can afford to pay for them but this seems to be decreasingly true in the public system, so I ask the minister to detail the specific number of public system appointments currently available for terminations between 14 and 18 weeks...

MS PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (14:51:12) — My constituency question is for the Minister for Roads and Road Safety. One of my constituents is a resident of Mill Park and is deeply concerned about traffic congestion in our northern suburbs. Whittlesea, at the top of our electorate, has experienced rapid growth. The municipality is now bigger than Geelong, with 60 babies being born each week and 150 new residents moving into the suburb of South Morang itself each month. Point blank, transport infrastructure has failed to keep up with this rapid growth. As much as sustainable public transport is desirable, the pragmatic reality is that...

MS PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (14:26:06) — My question is for the Minister for Health represented by Minister Mikakos. The Victorian Oral Health Alliance estimates that only 16 per cent of those eligible to receive public dental care actually receive it. In my electorate, at Your Community Health in Darebin the wait for eligible adults seeking general dental care is 22.8 months, and the state wait time is 19.7 months, which is a 67 per cent increase since 2015. The result of these wait times is avoidable deaths, induced illnesses including periodontal-related coronary disease, stroke, vascular disease and pancreatic cancer. The avoidable downstream cost to the health system...

MS PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (12:35:23) — My question is for the Minister for Mental Health, represented by Minister Mikakos. On 6 August this year Coroner Audrey Jamieson reported in relation to the tragic overdose death of Samuel Jack Morrison. In her report she noted that, and I quote: Advocating for establishment of the North Richmond Community Health (MSIC) has been the central focus of coroners' heroin harm reduction efforts over the past two years. However, if this MSIC had been operating when Mr Morrison was still alive, I suspect it would not have had an impact on the risk of his dying from heroin-involved overdose. She went...

MS PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (14:37:47) — My constituency question is for the Minister for Public Transport. My constituent is a member of the tram 86 campaign group which rallied today at the last stop of the number 86 tram line. Their proposal is to extend the tram line to South Morang to address congestion and a heavy reliance on vehicular traffic in our north. The May 2016 budget included funding for a feasibility study into this proposal. My constituent asks: what was the outcome of that study, and when will the report be publicly available?   Directed to:                  Minister for Public Transport ANSWER: A feasibility study into extending...

MS PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (14:22:20) — My question is for the Treasurer, represented in this house by Minister Jennings. There are 24 800 Victorians who are homeless and over 80 000 are on public housing waiting lists. In looking at creative solutions to this, I note the success of build-to-rent schemes in overseas jurisdictions, which provide affordable, long-term and flexible rentals. In fact Australian superannuation funds right now are investing in build-to-rent developments in the United States and Europe. The reason they are not investing here is that our tax system disincentives this type of product, stripping away the margins that would be attractive to investors...