Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (16:00:32): I will just rise to make a few comments on the Building Amendment (Cladding Rectification) Bill 2019. I must say I have had some reservations about this bill, and certainly this has been an issue that I am sure most of us have received a lot of correspondence on. Fundamentally the bill acts on key recommendations of the task force’s review to rectify buildings with high-risk cladding and to establish a dedicated cladding agency. There will also be a grants program to provide funding to work on the literally hundreds of buildings that have been found...

  Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (16:50:37): It is not often we see this level of consensus in the room, this warm feeling. I am not sure that that is just thinking about—   Members interjecting.   Ms PATTEN: This is a good bill, and the Reason Party is very, very pleased to be supporting Mr Barton. I commend him for bringing this to the house. Some of the government speakers have said, 'You know, there’s unintended consequences’, and I understand they are a little bit concerned with this very simple piece of legislation, that it may have some unintended consequences, but this bill is trying...

  Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (11:38:02): I will speak briefly on this as well. I commend Mr Hayes for this bill, and I know that this is something that he has been passionate about. I have really actually enjoyed listening to the other speakers who have experience on local councils and local government. I must say that I spend a lot of time with my local government in my electorate, and I find them to be a great resource and a great source of information. I think that they do some remarkably good work and that they do represent their community. However,...

  Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (11:43): I rise to make comment on the threatened species inquiry motion put forward by Dr Ratnam today. Native species are dying out. Climate change is real. This is the most important issue before us. You can debate all the laws you like in this place, and it will not mean squat unless we pay attention to what Dr Ratnam is saying today. Our ecosystems are in distress. Two hundred and forty leading scientists recently came together to sound the alarm bells. Within two decades scores of native species will be extinct. We must act now, and those that...

  Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (14:49): I actually thank Ms Crozier for this motion because it does give us an opportunity to speak about the medically supervised injecting room in North Richmond. I have to note that the government have taken a third of the time that has been given to this chamber to speak on this, and I note that actually at no point did they mention that the government kept saying no to me when I kept saying, ‘We need a supervised injecting room’. I said that time and time again, and you said no. You said no and...

  Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (14:42:41): I am pleased to rise to speak to the Primary Industries Legislation Amendment Bill 2019. As previous speakers have mentioned, this is largely an omnibus bill that covers many areas of the industry. In fact it is very diverse. It really covers everything that has been on my plate all week. I am on the Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee with Mrs McArthur, and I think probably one of the liveliest SARC meetings was when we went through the Primary Industries Legislation Amendment Bill, which does seem remarkable. There was much conversation about broilers, and I...

  Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (17:32:09): I rise to speak to this bill, the Health Legislation Amendment and Repeal Bill 2019. As many others who have spoken before me have said, this is an omnibus bill that covers a whole range of areas, particularly around information-sharing. I will not go into those segments of the bill; I think they are largely uncontroversial. The bill is also said to strengthen existing tobacco and e-cigarette advertising prohibitions. It also repeals the Access to Medicinal Cannabis Act 2016, which will result in consequential amendments to other acts. I would like to touch on the section repealing...

  Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (11:10:29): I would like to make a few points about the Renewable Energy (Jobs and Investment) Amendment Bill 2019. As we know, the bill seeks to establish a renewable energy target of 50 per cent of electricity by 2030 and provides for a determination of the minimum amount of renewable energy generation capacity required to meet these targets by 2030. The Reason Party will be supporting this bill today. Certainly I think 50 per cent is a very modest target, and I believe that we could definitely do better, but from all discussions 50 per cent is achievable,...

Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (16:13:53): I am pleased to rise to speak to Ms Maxwell’s motion. I think all of us absolutely do acknowledge the selfless dedication and commitment of our state’s emergency workers. We would all be unanimous in that and unanimous in reaffirming that emergency workers have the right to be protected, just as the community expects them to protect us. I have no doubt that many of us have been at the receiving end of that protection, have been at the receiving end of that assistance and many of the constituents that we represent are probably here today because of...

  Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (10:16:22): I move: That the bill be now read a second time. The Road Safety Amendment (Medicinal Cannabis) Bill 2019 proposes a reasonable change to the Road Safety Act 1986, to allow people who have been prescribed medicinal cannabis to drive—so long as they can drive safely. The bill provides that it is not an offence for a person’s blood or oral fluid to contain legal medicinal cannabis that is prescribed by a medical professional and taken in accordance with that prescription. This exception does not apply to a driver of a motor vehicle who is either impaired, or incapable of...