Tobacco Amendment Bill 2016
Sep 1, 2016
Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) — I rise today to speak about the Tobacco Amendment Bill 2016. The Australian Sex Party believes that governments should treat adults as adults and children as children. I think this bill in some ways goes towards treating children as children, but I do not think it goes many places in treating adults as adults.
I understand the outdoor smoking issues. I am not going to discuss that part of the bill. I believe that we all have common sense and, as Mr Melhem said, we all are sensitive to this. If members of this house were to be outside smoking...
Ms Patten (Northern Metropolitan) — I rise to speak briefly to the Transport (Compliance and Miscellaneous) Amendment (Public Safety) Bill 2016. I have to say that I am pretty cynical about this bill, and I also think that the community is very cynical about it. The bill has been touted, to use a taxi word, as a public safety bill. We have been told that it is urgent and that if we do not pass it immediately, we will have rapists driving taxis and public safety will be `at imminent risk due to section 159 — a section of the act that has been in...
End of Life Choices
Jun 9, 2016
Ms Patten(Northern Metropolitan) — This report is the culmination of hundreds of conversations and over 1000 submissions, and I am very honoured to have been part of this inquiry. I can honestly say it has been one of the best experiences of my working life. I would like to thank my fellow committee members and of course Lilian Topic and her team. I am sure that at the beginning of this none of us would have thought we would agree on so much.
Life and death are not opposites; birth and death are. Life is that ever-present force that goes on regardless of birth...
E-petitions
Jun 8, 2016
Ms Patten (Northern Metropolitan) — I move:
That this house —
(1) notes that the Victorian Parliament has failed to keep up to speed with technology and electronic petitions (e-petitions), which are common throughout Australia and in everyday use in the Queensland, ACT and federal parliaments, and should be an accepted practice in Victoria;
(2) notes that in 2009 the Legislative Assembly Standing Orders Committee recommended that the Assembly adopt such a practice, but as yet neither house of Parliament has done so;
(3) notes that provision for e-petitions would allow more Victorians to have their say in the democratic process of the Victorian Parliament and will,...
Ridesharing Bill 2016
Jun 8, 2016
Ms Patten (Northern Metropolitan) tabled following statement in accordance with Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act 2006:
In accordance with section 28 of the Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities, I make this statement of compatibility with respect to the Ridesharing Bill 2016.
In my opinion, the Ridesharing Bill 2016, as introduced to the Legislative Council, is compatible with the human rights protected by the charter.
I base my opinion on the reasons outlined in this statement.
Overview
The purpose of the bill is to legalise the provision of ridesharing services in Victoria, impose duties on facilitators of ridesharing, provide exemptions for ridesharing from certain provisions under...
Ms Patten (Northern Metropolitan) introduced a bill for an act to impose duties on facilitators of ridesharing, to amend the Transport (Compliance and Miscellaneous) Act 1983 to exempt ridesharing from the provisions of that act relating to commercial passenger vehicles and to amend the Transport Integration Act 2010 to recognise the undertaking of rideshare journeys as a transport service and for other purposes.
Read first time....
Ms Patten (Northern Metropolitan Region — Legislative Council) — Thank you, Speaker and President. Firstly, I would like to acknowledge the people in the gallery and in Queen's Hall who have bravely and fearlessly campaigned for this wrong to be righted.
In his 1858 book called On Liberty, John Stuart Mill wrote:
… the only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilised community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others. His own good, either physical or moral, is not a sufficient warrant.
In doing so, Mill endorsed the view that although we may not agree with the private...
Infant Viability Bill 2015
May 25, 2016
Ms Patten (Northern Metropolitan) — In reflecting on trying to debate this bill in its entirety today, I probably had about 20 pages to contribute to the debate, but I do not intend on doing that today. I obviously do not intend on supporting the Infant Viability Bill 2015 either. I think my position on this issue has been pretty clear, and I have been pretty public about it, so I do not intend to repeat much of that. I also respect that Ms Crozier, Ms Hartland and Ms Pulford have covered a lot of the areas where we are all on common ground as to why...
Crimes Legislation Amendment Bill 2016
May 24, 2016
Ms PATTEN — I had never been to a prison, so I only knew what I had seen on television. I had watched Prisoner as a kid; I knew what The Freak was like. So I was very much impressed by the dedication and compassion of those custodial officers. It was clear that they love their jobs. What they were saying to me was, 'You either stay here for six months or you stay here until you retire'. These people seriously invest in their work, and they obviously have great compassion and dedication to that work. They must be protected from violence,...
Rooming House Operators Bill 2015
May 5, 2016
Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) — I move:
- Clause 17, page 20, lines 1 to 12, omit all words and expressions on these lines and insert—
- Clause 17, page 20, line 15, after “(i)” insert “or (ii)”.