Marathon ends: Upper house finishes with pandemic bill after 21-hour, all-night debate

Debate on the pandemic legislation has wrapped up following a 21-hour marathon debate. The bill was sent to the lower house with suggested amendments, and will be put to a final vote in the Legislative Council on Thursday.

Victoria’s upper house sat through the night from into Wednesday morning as MPs debated the Andrews government’s controversial pandemic bill.

Independent MP Catherine Cumming and the Reason Party’s Fiona Patten celebrate the conclusion of debate on the pandemic bill.Credit: Joe Arao

Despite clinching a last-minute deal with Rod Barton of the Transport Matters Party, who pushed for significant concessions, there was protracted debate over each amendment.

Debate on the Public Health and Wellbeing Amendment (Pandemic Management) Bill 2021 started at 3.05pm on Tuesday, after the opposition failed to delay the draft legislation. The debate eventually closed shortly after noon on Wednesday.

Following the marathon debate, Fiona Patten, one of the key crossbenchers who worked with the government on the pandemic legislation, said it was a good bill to begin with and that it “just took a bit of hard work to make it the great bill it is now”.

“I’m actually feeling really good about this, it has been a long pathway,” Ms Patten said outside Parliament.

Fatigue sets in as upper house MPs, including Liberal Democrat Tim Quilty, debate Victoria’s contentious pandemic bill.Credit: Joe Armao

Coalition MP Bernie Finn said he was feeling very tired and would be heading home to have a “quiet sip”.

“It’s been a marathon, but if you fight, you’ve got to fight hard, and the marathon was worth it,” Mr Finn said.

Government MP Ingrid Stitt said the debate was respectful and the Parliament had reached a good outcome.

“We’re pleased to get that job done,” Ms Stitt said.

Transport Matters MP Rod Barton emerges after spending all night debating the pandemic bill in the upper house. Credit: Joe Armao

Liberal Democrats MP David Limbrick, a fierce opponent of the bill, said while he was disappointed with the overall outcome, Parliament had achieved some important changes to the proposed legislation.

“I don’t mind staying up late to fight bad legislation, so that’s what we did,” he said. “We found out a lot of details that weren’t very clear.”

Mr Limbrick said he had to kick his colleague, Tim Quilty, under the table several times to keep him awake.

The number of protesters outside Parliament House had dwindled to about 70 as the pandemic bill overcame its first hurdle to being enshrined in law on Wednesday afternoon.

As the cool change rolled in and the sun was replaced with rain, demonstrators huddled underneath umbrellas and donned rain ponchos. The few that were dancing stopped as rain blanketed Spring Street.

Protesters huddle under umbrellas as rain falls on Spring Street.Credit: Chris Hopkins

Meanwhile, Victoria’s daily COVID-19 update showed an additional 1179 cases of the virus had been detected, with six related deaths. There are now 11,959 active cases in the state, with 299 people in hospital with the virus, 43 of them in intensive care, 18 of those on ventilators.

With 4045 vaccine doses administered at state-run clinics, Victoria had 91 per cent of its population aged 12 and over fully jabbed, and there were 74, 252 COVID tests conducted on Tuesday.

The bill passed with the support of four crossbench MPs — Mr Barton, Fiona Patten of the Reason Party, Animal Justice MP Andy Meddick and Greens leader Samantha Ratnam — and can now return to the lower house as a formality where Labor holds a commanding majority.

Protesters outside the Victorian Parliament on Tuesday.Credit: Luis Enrique Ascui

Under existing laws, which expire on December 15, the chief health officer makes binding health orders under a state of emergency. The bill would transfer those powers to the premier and health minister of the day.

There were fears the government would fail to secure an extra vote to pass the bill after the surprise emergence last month of ousted Labor minister Adem Somyurek, who threatened to tip the vote against his former party. If the bill had failed, it would have led to Victoria being the only Australian jurisdiction without the power to enforce health orders, including mandatory quarantine of COVID-19 cases and vaccine mandates.

Under the deal with Mr Barton — which the government hoped would quell public turmoil that has led to daily protests on the steps of the Victorian Parliament — a new independent panel would be established to review detention orders imposed during a pandemic.

A joint parliamentary committee, chaired by a non-government MP, would also be established to review public health orders, and aggravated offences would be erased in changes decried by the opposition as “Mickey Mouse amendments”.

Crossbenchers Rod Barton of Transport Matters; Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party MP Jeff Bourman; and Fiona Patten of the Reason Party.Credit: Joe Armao

Victorian Ombudsman Deborah Glass questioned the independent oversight built into the pandemic bill in an opinion piece published by The Age last month. But on Wednesday morning, Ms Glass released a statement welcoming the changes that had since been made.

“I am pleased the government has listened to my concerns as Ombudsman that focussed on the need for independent review and oversight in the bill,” she said.

“The addition of the proposed Detention Appeals Panel is an important reform, with independent members now being the ultimate decision-makers for people detained seeking review. People will also be able to complain to the Ombudsman.

“The introduction of a proposed new cross-party parliamentary committee to review a pandemic order is also a welcome improvement. With the government no longer able to hold a majority on the review committee, and a requirement for an independent chair, this committee should give greater scrutiny to pandemic orders. It also has the power to refer any matter to my office for investigation.

“In my view it is inevitable there will be further questions about the bill, given the speed of the drafting process. This is why I have also encouraged the government to ensure the pandemic legislation is subject not only to review, but to independent review, to subject it to proper scrutiny in the light of experience.

“I have made it clear to the government I welcome their consideration of my views on the need for independent oversight and reviews in the bill. These important changes should engender greater community confidence.”

Legal and human rights groups broadly welcomed the concessions. Paul Hayes, QC — who was one of the 60 barristers who signed an open letter opposing the government’s proposal in its original form — and Victorian Bar president Roisin Annesley, QC, both raised concerns the bill still fell short on two significant fronts.

Ms Annesley and Mr Hayes separately said it should be judges and magistrates who routinely presided over hearings about the infringement of people’s civil liberties — not appeals officers — who reviewed detention orders.

The Human Rights Law Centre, Law Institute of Victoria and Centre for Public Integrity generally agreed the latest amendments made significant improvements and the bill, although imperfect, was worth supporting.

The Victorian opposition sought 18 amendments to the bill and vowed to repeal it if elected next year, with leader Matthew Guy on Tuesday accusing the government of playing politics using “the politics of fear, the politics of division”.

Mr Somyurek arrived at Parliament late on Tuesday to debate the legislation, which he described as “Orwellian”, saying it gave governments “unfettered” and extreme powers.

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