MS PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (17:51:18): I would like to briefly speak to the Transport Legislation Amendment (Better Roads Victoria and Other Amendments) Bill 2018. I note that this bill implements the Better Roads Victoria Trust Fund, which will hypothecate the traffic camera fines to suburban, rural and interface roads. I think this is very sensible, and sadly I have contributed to that fund in the past and I have no doubt I may contribute to this fund in the future. I am doing my bit to help with the funding of roads in Victoria. The bill also shifts the responsibility for...

MS PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (20:49:45): (By leave) Thank you, President, and I thank the house for allowing this. I think today was quite a day for us all in speaking about New Zealand and in speaking about the effects that religion can have on people in the most horrific ways, in what we saw in New Zealand. As to putting the question around removing the Lord’s Prayer today, I am still stalwart in my belief that this is a secular house, and that this house represents all 153 religions that are in Victoria and that this house should do that....

MS PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (15:51:00): I too rise on this motion to offer my condolences. Like so many across the world and in this chamber, on Friday I was shocked, I was appalled, I was frightened and I was so incredibly sad upon hearing the news of the awful terror attacks in Christchurch and the brutal murder of 50 people. On the weekend, like thousands of other Victorians, I visited a mosque to lay flowers and show my solidarity with our Muslim community over this horrific tragedy. In my case I went to the Albanian Mosque in Drummond Street in...

MS PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (16:20:53): I rise to also speak to the Justice Legislation Amendment (Police and Other Matters) Bill 2019. As has been stated by many of the other previous speakers, this is an omnibus bill. It covers a wide range of legislation and makes a wide range of amendments. In its fragmentation it does some good but it also does some bad, and I would hope to repair some of that by amendment and also repair that by supporting some of the amendments that have been circulated earlier. I will endeavour to move through some of the key...

MS PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (15:57:34): I rise to speak briefly on the Parliamentary Committees Amendment Bill 2019, which somewhat curiously plans to abolish the non-statutory parliamentary joint house committees, as well as providing pay rises for certain government members. I say it is curious because we have got an independent remuneration tribunal bill coming up straight after this one that will talk about independent remuneration, but prior to that we are making our own decisions ahead of the independent tribunal to give pay rises for certain government members. I am not actually suggesting that they do not deserve them. If...

MS PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (16:19:30): I rise to speak on the Integrity and Accountability Legislation Amendment (Public Interest Disclosures, Oversight and Independence) Bill 2018, and I am still considering where I am going with this bill. I am pleased to support many parts of this bill, and I am still questioning in my mind some other parts of the bill. This bill is improving whistleblower protections and expanding the scope of the Ombudsman to really follow the money in publicly funded bodies. We are increasingly contracting private organisations and non-government organisations to conduct the work of government, particularly in service...

MS PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (10:01:07): I am very pleased to rise to speak to the Safe Patient Care (Nurse to Patient and Midwife to Patient Ratios) Amendment Bill 2018. It has been some time in coming, and certainly we nearly got there last year and I felt terrible that we did not get there. However, I would concur with Ms Crozier in her contribution that this bill is actually a better bill. Can I say at the outset that I heart nurses and midwives. I wonder if Hansard could put an emoji in for that? This bill, as we all...

MS PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (14:36:24): I rise to speak to Mr Bourman’s motion that effectively says that we allow suitable people to obtain and use items designed for non-lethal self-defence in the wake of a number of random attacks on women. The victims of the four most recent attacks we are talking about—Jill Meagher, Eurydice Dixon, Aiia Maasarwe and Masa Vukotic—all died in Northern Metropolitan Region, so these are my constituents that we are talking about. Can I tell you that when I went to the silent memorial for Eurydice, when I went to the march for Jill, when I...

MS PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (17:39:48): I rise to briefly speak on this condolence motion, and I think of all those people for whom tomorrow may well be a very difficult day. As they say, their life will never be the same. But they also mention that this tragic event has brought a deeper resilience and kindness to their communities. Some of them say they are finally on the path to recovery, and for others, that sense of loss is never going to leave them. At the commemoration ceremony on Monday evening we heard Dr Kathy Rowe, who lost her husband...

MS PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (10:07:56): I move: That the bill be now read a second time. Ryan is an Indigenous man in his 40s from rural Victoria. He became a member of the Country Fire Authority (CFA) when he was a teenager, helping to keep his community safe from fire, just as his family has done for generations. For Ryan, it was an important part of his connection to country. In his teens and early 20s, Ryan was convicted of assault and being drunk and disorderly. He received a criminal record, but was never imprisoned. At age 27, Ryan applied for...