Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (09:54): I was very delighted this morning to read an email from a constituent, 83-year-old Rosalind, who shared a meal with a friend last night, the first meal that she has shared for months. For anyone interested, it was roast lamb followed by baked apples.
And that is what so many Victorians are doing. They are quietly going about their business. They are quietly working under these restrictions. They are doing what they can to keep their families happy. They are doing what is needed.
But then we have a few others, and I do not blame them. They are frightened. They are fearful. But what I hate is the people that fuel that fear, that fuel that misinformation, that fuel the conspiracies around it. That is what is not acceptable.
Now, I accept we need to do better, because we have now got people who do not trust their Parliament, do not trust their police and do not trust the medical associations. They have been fuelled with misinformation. And we could do better in here.
Greater transparency by government would help, greater openness would help but also calling it out when we see these people starting to make misogynistic, aggressive and violent comments and remarks. We need to call it out, and we need to do the right thing.
