PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) — I move:
That the bill be now read a second time.
In December of last year I sat through a coronial inquest. Her name was suppressed, but the deceased was a young mother, 34 years of age. She overdosed in a fast-food restaurant toilet in North Richmond, where she was found with a needle and a spoon lying beside her. We heard that she had tried to overcome her addiction, but traumatic events, including a long history of family violence, had set her back.
At lunchtime, that Sunday, there sadly ended her decade-long battle with heroin. She was not the only...
Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) — I would like to rise to briefly make a contribution on Ms Crozier's motion. I do not know whether it is my personality or that I am in my first term, but this type of debate to me does not seem terribly constructive. I have certainly taken an interest in Parkville and taken an interest in juvenile justice, but continuing to try to blame people does not seem to help the kids in those juvenile justice centres.
This is a systemic problem. Certainly the pot is boiling over, and I can see that we certainly are having problems —...
Bourke Street tragedy condolences
Feb 7, 2017
Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) — I would like to support the condolence motion moved by the Leader of the Government. As we have heard from others today, the events of 20 January have just been etched not only on our minds but on the whole public consciousness of not only Victoria but Australia. Tragically, the six people who have been confirmed dead are a three-month-old baby, a 10-year-old child, a 22-year-old interstate tourist, a 33-year-old man, a 33-year-old woman and a 25-year-old Japanese tourist, and many people are still in hospital with injuries, some very severe — all their lives so heinously affected...
Drugs, Poisons and Controlled Substances Amendment (Pilot Medically Supervised Injecting Centre) Bill 2017
Feb 7, 2017
Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) introduced a bill for an act to amend the Drugs, Poisons and Controlled Substances Act 1981 to provide for the licensing and operation of a medically supervised injecting centre for a trial period of 18 months.
Read first time....
Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) — By leave, I move:
That the resolution of the Council of 11 November 2015 requiring the Law Reform, Road and Community Safety Committee to inquire into and report by 3 March 2017 on illicit and synthetic drugs and prescription medication be amended so as to now require the committee to present its report by 9 March 2018.
Motion agreed to....
Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) introduced a bill for an act to amend the Drugs, Poisons and Controlled Substances Act 1981 to provide for the pilot of a safe consumption room at a specific location and for the pilot of the testing of specified substances by certain authorised health practitioners at public events and for other purposes.
Read first time....
Second Reading
PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) — In my contribution on the Equal Opportunity Amendment (Religious Exceptions) Bill 2016 I am not trying to speak to Mr Finn, Dr Carling-Jenkins or Mrs Peulich, because they look to a constituency of deeply religious voters for their support and they will happily work up a rage in that constituency with false descriptions about this bill to help their re-election.
Let us be clear to all of those deeply religious organisations: you can still discriminate under this bill. The Australian Sex Party would like to see all religious exemptions removed from the Equal Opportunity Act 2010, but this bill does...
Equality, respect and tolerance: The Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Amendment Bill 2016
Dec 6, 2016
Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) — Talk about wasting time! Mr Finn, who spoke against the Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Amendment Bill 2016, spent 15 minutes with nonsensical arguments and imaginary hypotheses. He was dismissing real people. This bill is about real people, and I would be happy to introduce Mr Finn to them. This bill is important for compassionate people. If I was a Christian, I would be asking, 'What would Jesus do?'. I think that Jesus would actually be far more compassionate than the evangelical Christian who just left the room, as in Mr Finn.
I am not going to restate the purposes of...
Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) — I would like to just speak very briefly on the Housing Amendment (Victorian Housing Register and Other Matters) Bill 2016. I cannot help thinking that a bill that facilitates the creation of a Victorian Housing Register to enable greater social housing opportunities and to allow Victorians in housing need, instead of applying to over 40 separate housing waiting lists, to simply apply to one register is something we should have done before. Why has it taken us so long for such a commonsense response?
I recently had the good fortune of meeting with the managers and staff of...
Transport (Compliance and Miscellaneous) Amendment (Abolition of the Penalty Fares Scheme) Bill 2016
Nov 24, 2016
Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) — I am pleased to make a contribution to the debate on the Transport (Compliance and Miscellaneous) Amendment (Abolition of the Penalty Fares Scheme) Bill 2016. The Australian Sex Party will be supporting this bill. We, alongside many Victorians, will be very happy to see this bill pass this house today, because we know — and the government has also recognised this — that on-the-spot fines are completely discriminatory. They are unfair to disadvantaged groups from a number of backgrounds who are already vulnerable to non-compliance issues for a wide variety of reasons. On-the-spot fines definitely negatively affect people...