Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (12:02): My question today is for the Minister for Veterans. In what is the final step towards medical approval, a major study in the US has shown that MDMA brings relief to those suffering from severe post-traumatic stress disorder. Those who received MDMA in a test group experienced a significantly greater reduction in the severity of their symptoms. Two months after treatment 67 per cent of the participants in the group no longer qualified for a diagnosis of PTSD, compared to 32 per cent in the placebo group. We know about 17 per cent of military veterans suffer...

  Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (12:06): My constituency question today is for the Minister for Roads and Road Safety. I have had representations from constituents in relation to the roundabout on the corner of Gilbert Road and Henty Street in Reservoir. In the immediate vicinity of this roundabout are three schools, a childcare centre, assisted accommodation, a sports recreation oval and of course a shopping strip. This is an extremely busy area of Reservoir, and there is no way for pedestrians to cross the roundabout safely. Families who access local childcare centre Great Beginnings find it incredibly difficult to cross the road...

  Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (12:30): My question is for the Attorney-General. We have recently had a case under the voluntary assisted dying legislation where a New Zealand woman who had been living in Victoria for 20-plus years and was a nurse here was denied access to voluntary assisted dying. The reason given was that she was not a permanent resident. Now, when we went back to look at the act itself there was no definition. When we went to look at the acts interpretation act, there is no definition for ‘permanent resident’. So my question is: is there any other...

  Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (12:02): My question today is for the Minister for Planning, and it comes from a concerned group of citizens in Craigieburn. The Craigieburn West precinct structure plan is one of 19 planning and infrastructure projects being fast-tracked as part of the government’s response to the COVID-19 crisis. This precinct will add around 8000 dwellings to Craigieburn. Whilst this is a welcome development, the elephant in the room is that both Hume City Council and the wider community have been trying to get the government to address the duplication of Mickleham Road. The council, while supporting the...

  Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (12:43): My question is for the minister for the digital economy. In the last few months we have seen an extraordinary rise in the value of cryptocurrencies, led by the continued heights that the most popular currency, bitcoin, has achieved. Today one bitcoin is worth over A$65 000. I have asked the government before about its intentions towards new forms of digital payments and was told by former Leader of the House Mr Jennings that the government was keeping an eye on this space. Minister, given the greater acceptance of digital currencies in the community, is...

  Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (12:37): My constituency question is for the Minister for Agriculture. My constituent, a greyhound owner, has a question on behalf of the thousands of greyhounds in my electorate—ruff! Under Victorian law greyhounds must be on a leash in public areas, making it very difficult for owners to responsibly give their beloved speedsters some freedom to run. My constituent points out these restrictions are a little rough. Well over 1000 former racing greyhounds are adopted out every year through the Greyhound Adoption Program, with that number steadily increasing. Given the growing popularity and specific needs of this...

  Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (12:17): My question is for the Minister for Local Government. At the beginning of this month you announced the Gender Equality Advisory Committee, which among other things will drive the implementation of the Australian-first Gender Equality Act 2020 across local government. I think you spoke more about it, if I am right, in your ministers statement this week. Local government is a massive employer of women, but many of the services that they provide are contracted on a short-term basis. This leads to job insecurity and knowledge loss through job churn. Can the minister explain what...

Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (12:44): My constituency question is for the Minister for Creative Industries. The Butterfly Club is a small theatre in the Melbourne CBD. Currently industry restrictions are written in such a way to limit their capacity to 75 per cent of the auditorium. They are also imposing a limit of one person per 2 square metres in their foyer. In practice this limits the capacity of the Butterfly Club and similar theatres to the size of their foyers, because the 50 per cent quotient will always be lower than the 75 per cent limit of their...

Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (12:33): My question is for the Attorney-General. The Public Accounts and Estimates Committee’s inquiry into the Victorian government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic found 39 985 fines had been issued to people in Victoria for breaches of the COVID-19 rules. 2806 of those fines have been paid in full and 4869 were withdrawn. How many unpaid COVID fines issued have now been converted to criminal charges?

Ms SYMES (Northern Victoria—Leader of the Government, Attorney-General, Minister for Resources) (12:34): I thank Ms Patten for her question. There is a little bit...

 

Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (11:20): My question is to the Minister for Workplace Safety and relates to Central Pier in Docklands. A recent article in the Age revealed that Development Victoria, the agency in charge of Central Pier, knew for quite a few years that the 100-year-old structure was at extreme risk of collapse, before it was shut down abruptly.

The Federal Court documents show that prior to the shutdown on 28 August 2019 Development Victoria had been warned that the pier risked catastrophic failure but delayed acting in an apparent attempt...