Pentridge Prison D-Division
Mar 7, 2018
Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (14:06:02) — My constituency question is for the Minister for Planning. I recently had a meeting with the Pentridge Community Action Group. They are pretty happy with the way the development of the Pentridge prison site in Coburg is going, except for D Division, which is up for sale again, and the asking price is $4.5 million. The government seems to be having great difficulty selling this, and I think one of the reasons is because it has a covenant over it that a heritage museum must be built and must include at least eight cells of that building. As...
Joining Upfield Bike Parth and Western Ring Road
Feb 20, 2018
Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (14:48:24) — My question is for the Minister for Public Transport in the other house. Just like last week, I have got another constituent who has come up with some great ideas for the Upfield bike path that runs along the Upfield train line. The bike path effectively ends at the top of Sages Road near Gowrie station, about 800 metres short of the Western Ring Road bike path. There is already a VicTrack service road that runs parallel to the train line and connects these two major cycling routes. It is already being used as a de facto...
Upfield Line Bike Path
Feb 8, 2018
Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (12:47:25) — My constituency question is for the Minister for Public Transport. I have got a number of constituents who ride their bikes to work using the Upfield line bike path. It is taking longer and longer as it becomes more and more congested, and it has reached a point where it is at capacity and there is bottlenecking, so people are waiting for a long time just to even get across traffic lights. The minister has spoken about this issue, and I would like to know from the minister whether they are going to expand the bike...
Drug Harm Reduction
Feb 6, 2018
Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (14:39:23) — My question is for the Minister for Health, represented by Minister Mikakos. On the night of Australia Day nine people were rushed to hospital, several not breathing and critically ill, following a mass overdose at Festival Hall. One is still in hospital. In the 12 days since, no Victorian authority has released public health information that would help identify this bad batch of pills that may still be in circulation. This is even despite the fact that it has been said that they contain the lethal drug paramethoxyamphetamine. Victoria Police have refused to publicly release the information, saying...
Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (14:39:23) — My question is for the Minister for Health, represented by Minister Mikakos. On the night of Australia Day nine people were rushed to hospital, several not breathing and critically ill, following a mass overdose at Festival Hall. One is still in hospital. In the 12 days since, no Victorian authority has released public health information that would help identify this bad batch of pills that may still be in circulation. This is even despite the fact that it has been said that they contain the lethal drug paramethoxyamphetamine. Victoria Police have refused to publicly release the information, saying...
Institutional sexual abuse victims
Dec 13, 2017
Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (12:03:18) — My question is for the Attorney-General represented by Minister Tierney. On Friday the Royal Commission into Institutional Child Sexual Abuse will present its final report, ending that intensive and often traumatic four-year investigative process. One of the commission's major recommendations is the creation of a commonwealth redress scheme. The scheme requires that each state government refer powers to the commonwealth in order for the national redress scheme to be created. At this stage no state, including Victoria, has indicated that they will sign up to the scheme. In April the Attorney-General stated, 'Victoria remains open to a...
Vic Police Media
Nov 30, 2017
Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (12:18:56) — My question is for the Minister for Police, represented by Minister Tierney. Natural justice and the presumption of innocence are fundamental human rights and cornerstones of our legal system. The principle of sub judice is something that we are all very familiar with in this context and a principle that we deal with often in this place, the rationale being that publication of material can prejudge legal proceedings or place pressure on persons involved in proceedings, including jurors and witnesses. The ultimate risk is that where a court is satisfied that there is a serious risk that...
Contraception unavailable in hospital pharmacy
Nov 29, 2017
Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (12:42:11) — My constituency question is for the Minister for Health. A constituent of mine, having experienced a sudden health issue, recently found herself unexpectedly admitted to the Mercy Hospital for Women for several days. She was shocked to find that the pharmacy at this public hospital would not supply her with her regular contraception while she was there. The government's Women's Sexual and Reproductive Health: Key Priorities 2017–2020 includes the right to effective and affordable methods of family planning and fertility regulation. How is it, then, that a publicly funded hospital can deny women contraceptive medication, and does the...
More for Westgarth Primary School
Nov 21, 2017
Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (14:03:29) — My question is for the Minister for Education, represented by Minister Tierney. On Tuesday of last week I asked a question of the minister in relation to the roof condition of Westgarth Primary School, referring to a report commissioned in 2015 as a consequence of ongoing roof leaks throughout the school. That report noted periodic health and safety concerns, especially mould, and as I mentioned, even maggots. On the weekend we saw that the polling booth was nearly closed due to that leaking roof. The response I got from the minister — and I am grateful — said:
I am...
Public transport for Alphington residents
Nov 16, 2017
Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (12:50:40) — My constituency question is for the Minister for Public Transport. My constituent is a resident of Alphington and is very concerned about public transport in her area. She has mobility issues and lives some distance from the Hurstbridge train line, so she is reliant on the 546 bus, which services Heidelberg Road. The 546 bus currently does not run on the weekends, nor does it run after 7.26 p.m. on weekdays. So she asks: with housing density increasing in the area, not to mention the paper mill development that will double the number of residents in the suburb, will...