MS PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (09:54:30): Although we have made headway into drug law reform in Victoria, we are still far behind most civilised jurisdictions. This I heard when I attended the Victorian Alcohol and Drug Association’s excellent conference. They brought out the outstanding Professor David Nutt, who was the inaugural chair of the UK advisory council on drugs policy, which I think is a body we should replicate here, as well as Professor Fiona Measham, probably the world expert on drug safety testing services. Both spoke about evidence showing the effectiveness of harm reduction in not only saving lives but...

MS PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (15:27:29): Her name was Aiia Maasarwe. She was a Palestinian exchange student. She was vibrant and beautiful, with her entire life ahead of her until it was cut short on 16 January. Like so many others, I sat in silence on the steps of this Parliament a few days later in solidarity with the community. I thought about a life lost, I thought about her tragic end, and I was sad and angry. Her name joins a list, a list that should never be: with Jill, with Eurydice, with Masa. While those women paid the ultimate...

MS PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (10:30:01) — I would just like to take this time to thank all of the people here who have made this four years quite a journey, and in fact overall an incredibly pleasurable one. It seems like a long time ago that we were standing here being sworn in, but in actual fact it also seems that it has gone very fast. I would like to thank the red coats, the attendants, the clerks, Hansard, the library staff, the restaurant staff and particularly the committee staff, because I think the committee work was one of the most surprising...

MS PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (10:07:56) — It was International Overdose Awareness Day last week, and I was pleased to speak at a number of community organisation events, including Banyule Community Health and the Australian Community Support Organisation. I heard the stories of people who had tragically lost brothers, sons and daughters and also the triumphant stories of people who had overcome addiction and had gone on to a very strong path of recovery. We also noted the rise in overdose deaths. Since 2014 overdose deaths have nearly doubled in Australia. We are now reaching close to the epidemic proportions of accidental overdose...

MS PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (12:35:18) — On this cold day I think it is good to reflect that in inner Melbourne almost 400 people have no place to call home and are sleeping rough. That does not even paint the picture of the more than 24 800 homeless people across the state, and that figure is growing. This week is Homelessness Week, and I think it is a great opportunity to bring this issue into the spotlight, especially as we face, as I said, these chilly overnight temperatures. I want to pay respect to the hundreds of organisations that are working towards providing shelter and...

Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (10:09:22) — I was very pleased to meet with Vision Australia the other day to celebrate the work that we have done in securing electronic voting for the visually impaired in this state. But they also highlighted the need for a lot more to be done for the visually impaired and those with disabilities. One of the remarkable things they brought to my attention was that the My Health Record website is not disability accessible. It is a website run by a health department which is not accessible to people with disabilities — just remarkable! In fact they demonstrated 12 ways...

Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (12:35:29) — Last night I attended the candlelight vigil at Princes Park for Eurydice Dixon. It was an event that, not surprisingly, brought the community together. Thousands of us stood in the darkness of Princes Park. We stood in silence. We stood in solidarity. We reflected on the inhumanity that we saw and heard about last week. It was a time for us to unite in grief, to mourn the loss of a beautiful young woman and to try to regain some peace and hope in the face of so much sadness; to stand not only in protest but...

Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (12:53:00) — I would like to use this moment to give a shout out to Jets Studio in my electorate and to say how really impressed I was with the work they are doing there — the ethos, the engagement and the real dedication of the staff at Jets Studio, which is a multifunctional creative arts youth facility that delivers a range of programs largely around music but also a whole bunch of the elements around music, whether it is album cover designing, posters or organising live events. It really was fabulous. It was great to see some of...

Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (12:31:44) — On Sunday I had the honour of attending and speaking at the 35th International AIDS Candlelight Memorial held at Southbank. The theme this year was ‘Reflecting on our past; preparing for our future’. I remember 30 years ago I attended my first funeral for a friend who had died of an AIDS‑related illness. In those days the treatments were not terribly effective and the discrimination and stigma experienced were horrific. Friends were disowned by families, refused service in restaurants and sacked from their jobs. A lot has changed; treatments now mean that HIV can be undetectable, and with...

Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (12:40:25) — Tomorrow we will celebrate the second anniversary of the implementation of the safe access zones in Victoria. This legislation is something that I think we should all be particularly proud of. It prevents the harassment of clients and staff outside reproductive health service clinics. These clients are often visiting the clinics under difficult and distressing circumstances, and I am very pleased that they are able to do so without fear of harassment. It has been a fantastic success, and I am delighted to note that countries like Great Britain are looking to copy this model and...