Marathon pandemic Bill debate finally ends
Victorian MPs have left parliament after debating through the night — for a mammoth 21 hours — over the controversial pandemic Bill.
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The marathon upper house debate on the state government’s controversial pandemic Bill has finished after 21 hours.
The Bill will now be sent back to the lower house where amendments will be voted on and will return to the upper house on Thursday for a final vote.
Victorian upper house MPs sat through the night debating amendments to the legislation.
The marathon debate kicked off just after 3pm Tuesday, and MPs worked through dozens of proposed amendments before the final vote is held.
MPs have slowly worked their way through more than 80 proposed amendments, with votes being held on every one.
TIRED MPS LEAVE PARLIAMENT
Transport Matters MP Rod Barton, who got the Bill over the line for the government, said he was feeling “very weary” after the debate.
“Everybody’s got to be given the opportunity to put the scrutiny over this Bill and the opposition and other crossbench members did exactly that,” he said.
“I’m pleased that we’ve come out with a Bill that is far better than a state of emergency, and certainly a lot better than what we had.”
Mr Barton said he was “very proud” to have helped produce a Bill that would eventually play a “key role in keeping Victorians safe”.
Despite being the subject of recent death threats over his support of the Bill, Mr Barton said he was doing ok.
“We’re fine,” he said.
Opposition Leader Matthew Guy slammed the government for allowing the debate to continue for more than 21 hours.
“I’m proud of my colleagues for standing up for a long period of time, longer than any worker should have been on their feet. For a party that supposedly cares about workers, (it’s) unacceptable,” Mr Guy said.
Leader of the Opposition in the upper house David Davis said the opposition wanted to adjourn the debate and return on Thursday.
“We fought every step of the way,” Mr Davis said.
But he rejected claims that his party used political tactics and filibustered throughout the proceedings as “absurd”.
“MPs are entitled to ask about clauses. That’s actually our job,” Mr Davis said.
Mr Davis said his first priority was a shower, revealing that he was still in the clothes that he left home in at 8am on Tuesday.
Attorney General Jaclyn Symes, who is the leader of the government in the upper house and was required to answer questions throughout the marathon sitting, did not speak to the media.
Despite several amendments to the original legislation, the state opposition has again renewed their promise to scrap the Bill if elected to government next year.
Mr Guy said Victorians should not be “fooled by window-dressing amendments”, adding that the “bad law” would still allow the Premier to lock the state down again.
“Victoria will never recover whilst the threat of Labor’s lockdowns hangs over every decision to take a new job, enrol in a local school, start a business, a family, retire or buy a home,” he said.
“More lockdowns means fewer jobs, worse mental health, more debt and Victoria getting left behind.
“New variants will come and with a common-sense plan we can stay safe, open and move forward without relying on harsh lockdowns.”
Mr Guy said his first act as Premier would be to repeal the “dangerous laws”.
“We will build a new infectious disease response centre to manage future pandemics, put a dedicated mental health professional in every school, block new and increased council fees for small businesses and will never again lock down Victorians under any circumstances,” he added.
Former Andrews government minister Adem Somyurek said the parliament needed to review the past 24 hours to ensure MPs weren’t forced to sit through lengthy debates in future.
“It wasn’t very productive,” he told reporters as he left parliament.
Mr Somyurek’s unexpected return to parliament sparked the Bill’s delay, and caused a frenzied government to desperately rally for an extra vote of support.
Liberal Democrats MP David Limbrick, who has been outspoken in his opposition to the Bill, said a lot of the details “that weren’t very clear” had been clarified.
“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.”
His colleague, Tim Quilty, admitted he had fallen asleep on numerous occasions throughout the debate.
“(I had a) couple of kicks to the ankle to wake me up,” he laughed.
Mr Quilty said it wasn’t necessary for the sitting to have been dragged out for so long.
“I think we lose concentration when we’re so tired,” he said.
Government Minister Ingrid Stitt said the parliament had reached a “good outcome”.
“We’re pleased to get that job done,” Ms Stitt said.
Fellow Minister Jaala Pulford, who left parliament with a sandwich, said she was excited to get some sleep.
Controversial Liberal MP Bernie Finn said the marathon debate was a “show of stupidity” by the government.
“If you fight you’ve got to fight hard,” he said.
“They decided they were going to be hairy-chested and show how clever they were and keep us there until a particularly stupid hour — and that hour is now.”
Mr Finn said he was off for a “quiet sip” and a nap for a while.
Greens leader Samantha Ratnam said the debate was the longest time she had been away from her baby.
Ms Ratnam said while she was “pretty tired”, she was relieved and pleased that the Bill had passed “this important stage”.
“There are some administrative steps before it is finally passed into law, but I’m really proud of the improvements that we secured,” she said.
“This Bill is now more accountable, more transparent and fairer for Victorians and it’s really important to remember that this is about keeping Victorians safe in the midst of a public health crisis.”
Ms Ratnam said it was evident that certain tactics were used in a bid to “delay and frustrate the progress” of the Bill.
“We certainly saw some of those tactics being used particularly in the wee hours of this morning,” she said.
“I think you’d ideally like to make these decisions in the light of the day with full rest, but you know, we were able to do it really well. I’m really proud of the quality of debate that we saw.”
Reason Party leader Fiona Patten said the pandemic specific legislation would set a “benchmark” for jurisdictions around Australia.
“This controversial Bill should never have been controversial. It was a good Bill from the start. It just took a bit of hard work to make the great Bill it is now,” Ms Patten said.
Animal Justice Party Andy Meddick said “almost everybody in the chamber took this extremely seriously”.
Mr Meddick said there was “absolutely” filibustering occurring throughout the debate.
“That was just outrageous and it shows the opposition were just opposing for opposition’s sake,” he said.
“This was just an outright act of political bastardry.”
TEMPERS FLARE AS DEBATE DRAGS ON
A vote to sit beyond midnight was won convincingly despite being opposed by Mr Davis.
Mr Davis, his colleague Georgie Crozier, Independent MP Catherine Cumming, and Liberal Democrat David Limbrick dominated debate through the night.
Some MPs changed clothes, one was seen dancing, and another caught doing stretches as the debate dragged on.
Tempers flared at various times through the sitting, as sleep-deprived MPs hit out at each other from across the chamber.
“Can we have some decorum, I can no longer say very late, I have to say very early,” deputy president Wendy Lovell said shortly before 6am.
The Bill they are now dealing with has been described as a “very different beast” to the one first proposed.
The amendments have ensured Victorians who breach pandemic orders won’t be thrown in jail and the Ombudsman will be given greater oversight, under revamped legislation experts say “isn’t perfect” but an improvement.
OMBUDSMAN WELCOMES CHANGES
Ombudsman Deborah Glass welcomed changes to the laws, saying they would give greater confidence to the community.
As the contentious laws were debated in the upper house, Ms Glass threw her support behind the amendments secured at the 11th hour.
“I am pleased the government has listened to my concerns as Ombudsman that focused 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.”
Ms Glass also welcomed the establishment of a new cross-party parliamentary committee to review pandemic orders.
“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 (that) 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.”
MP’S VOTE VITAL TO BILL’S SURVIVAL
Transport Matters MP Rod Barton backed the pandemic-specific legislation following intense negotiations with the government and a month of backlash from legal groups and public protests over the proposed laws.
His vote was vital to the Bill’s survival after former minister Adem Somyurek returned to parliament in an attempt to block it.
In return for this support, the government agreed to six additional amendments, including the creation of an independent panel to review detention orders, the removal of harsher aggravated offences for breaching pandemic orders and a new joint committee that will not be controlled by the government.
Mr Barton was on Tuesday forced to turn his Twitter account private amid death threats and abuse over his support for the legislation.
Anonymous social media users also shared the name and mobile number of a staffer and the Herald Sun viewed several hateful comments, including one which read: “#bartonforthegallows”.
Mr Barton said his amendments to the Bill had ultimately “curbed the powers of the premier”.
He said that the addition of the joint committee to oversee public health orders was a great improvement.
“My relationship with the government is frosty at the best of times,” Mr Barton said.
“I’ve been battling them all the time and I did what had to be done.
“I’m comfortable with what we’re putting up. This is a very different beast than what we had previously and we can’t compare where the Bill started from, you can’t compare it with a state of emergency.”
The new committee will be made up of nine members, including four government MPs, three in opposition and two crossbenchers, with a non-government person as the chair.
These appointments will be made through the parliament, with one insider saying it was “very unlikely” the parliament would ever be elected without crossbench MPs.
It will only be able to disallow pandemic orders through a majority vote at a joint sitting of both houses.
Some groups who have vocally opposed the legislation on Tuesday backed the change.
It’s understood the Ombudsman, who had spoken out about her inability to review orders made by a minister, was consulted and supportive of the changes involving her role.
Law Institute of Victoria president Tania Wolff said the government had come a long way.
“Given what we are seeing in these additional amendments, this is an improvement, and, on balance, the LIV would support this Bill,” she said.
Human Rights Law Centre legal director Daniel Webb also backed the laws being passed and said there were new protections not found in other states.
“The new Bill isn’t perfect but it is a big improvement on the existing law,” he said.
“We would have liked to have seen an outer limit on how long a pandemic declaration can be extended for and some other changes to the criteria for imposing restrictions.”
But Victorian Bar president Róisín Annesley, QC, said the Bill still fell short, saying problems persisted with a lack of parliamentary control over the minister’s pandemic orders and provision for an independent review of authorised officers exercise of power.
Morgan Begg, director of the Legal Rights Program at the Institute of Public Affairs said the pandemic Bill could not be fixed without a complete rewrite.
“The latest changes to the bill are marginal improvements at best, which fail to address the main problem – the plenary power given to the premier and the health minister to rule the state by arbitrary decree.”
‘MICKEY MOUSE’ AMENDMENTS
On Tuesday, Opposition Leader Matthew Guy likened changes to proposed pandemic laws as “mickey mouse amendments” and accused the government of trying to ram through legislation.
“We were there to work with them. Our phone never rang. They never bothered to call, which means they wanted to play politics from the very start,” he said.
When asked why his government failed to consult all members on the proposed legislation, Premier Daniel Andrews fired back: “The opposition are far too busy standing out the front of the building with extremists”.
“If you have a look at the way the parliament works, it often takes a long time to get good outcomes and it’s the outcome that I’m focused on – not the process.”
Health Minister Martin Foley added: “Rather than play political games, the government has focused on those five crossbenchers who came forward to sit down in good faith.
“I’m pleased that we were able to do so (and) I’m hopeful this package of reforms will make its way through the parliament.”
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