Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (15:58): I rise to speak to the Appropriation (2020–21) Bill 2020, and in doing so I would like to respond to the state budget. This year has been quite a year. It has been one of grief, isolation and emotional and economic hardship but also of collective resilience, and it is a year that has been described as unprecedented on an unprecedented number of occasions. So fittingly this is a pretty unprecedented budget.

Never before have we seen stimulus on this scale, but equally never before have we had...

Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (14:58): There is a slight feeling of groundhog day because I think when we started this motion earlier this year I spoke after Ms Terpstra did. I would just like to start by congratulating Ms Terpstra and Mr Finn on successfully quitting tobacco and successfully quitting smoking. As both of you attest, it is not easy. It is incredibly difficult, and this is why this motion is important. This is why: we can look at providing every tool to stop someone dying from lung cancer. As Ms Terpstra mentioned, she has a very personal connection...

Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (18:03): I am pleased to rise to the Appropriation (Parliament 2020–2021) Bill 2020. Before I move on to some of the other aspects, I certainly would just like to thank everybody for what an extraordinary year this has been. I know that for our community it has been tough. I know that for many of us in this chamber it has been tough. We have had to change the way we work, and we have had to do things very differently. Our staff have had to do things very differently, and they...

Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (18:01): I am pleased to rise to speak to the Justice Legislation Amendment (Drug Court and Other Matters) Bill 2020. Yet again this is another omnibus bill. It amends numerous pieces of legislation, and I think the one that we have heard most of today is the amendment to the County Court Act 1958 and the Sentencing Act 1991 to establish a Drug Court division in the County Court. But the bill also makes amendments to the Charities Act 1978, the Limitation of Actions Act 1958, the Children, Youth and Families Act 2005, the Victorian Civil and...

Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (15:41): I too am very pleased to rise to speak to the Human Tissue Amendment Bill 2020. I noted, as I was thinking about this bill, that I had my DonateLife badge sitting on my desk today. Certainly, as Mr Tarlamis mentioned, donating your organs or your tissue can save not just one life, it can save a dozen lives. Over the course of just last year nearly 1500 Australians’ lives were saved through a transplant due to the generosity of 500 or 600 people. So you can see how the gift really does give.

Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (12:53): I rise to make just a fairly short contribution to this bill, which is a very broad and wideranging bill. I did just want to touch on some of the points that were made by Mr Gepp and also Mr Grimley at the beginning. The road toll in Victoria, as Mr Gepp quite rightly said, is one of the leading causes of death. The road toll in 2019 was 242. But I just think it is worth us remembering that the toll from overdoses far exceeds that. The toll from accidental drug overdoses...

Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (13:07): I am pleased to rise to speak to the Food Amendment Bill 2020. As previous speakers have said, this does aim to support a more consistent and transparent regulatory process for the regulation of our food businesses, our cafes and all of those businesses that we are so pleased to be back visiting and eating in. It does this by providing an online portal for councils. I have to say this intention to provide this portal will help improve councils’ reporting processes, compliance, monitoring and operational decision-making. This is very important.

Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (15:26): I am very pleased to rise to speak on this motion. I just want to make note of the kind of graffiti amendment that the opposition has put forward today. It is almost like they crossed out some of the letters so the word means something different altogether—omit ‘Green New Deal’, omit ‘wildlife’, insert ‘roads and pollution’. You know—how to completely change the whole motion. In fact I think I am going to take some inspiration from this and look out for opportunities to do the same kind of graffiti...

Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (18:51): I rise briefly to speak to Mr Grimley’s motion. I think it is interesting having this motion coming off the back of the debate that we held yesterday, which really talked about the very pointy end of sex crimes. I know I said yesterday, ‘How do we reduce sex crimes? Well, we stop people committing them’. That changes culture, and I know Mr Grimley mentioned this in his introductory remarks to this motion—and it is true. Like many people in this room, I have experienced sexual assault and I did not report...

Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (16:19): I am pleased to speak on the Justice Legislation Amendment (Supporting Victims and Other Matters) Bill 2020. I feel quite privileged to have been in this chamber and listened to so many of the contributions—and some extraordinarily heartfelt contributions. We know that many of the issues that this bill does cover are personal—they are very personal. For some people here they formed part of the pathway to this place. It was some of those experiences that people have shared with us today that formed who they are and formed the members of...