Andrews government secures extra vote to pass pandemic Bill

Transport Matters MP Rod Barton has been sent death threats for his support of the pandemic laws, which will get the controversial Bill over the line.

Transport Matters MP Rod Barton has been forced to turn his Twitter account private amid death threats and abuse over his support for the pandemic legislation.

Mr Barton, who on Monday night struck an eleventh hour deal with the government, has since been subjected to a barrage of online abuse.

Anonymous social media users have also shared the name and mobile number of Mr Barton’s chief of staff.

The Herald Sun has viewed several hate comments, including one which read: “#bartonforthegallows”.

It comes amid reports that Victoria Police were on Tuesday morning camped outside Mr Barton’s Doncaster electorate office.

Victoria Police and Mr Barton’s team have been contacted for clarification on the matter.

Mr Barton on Tuesday told reporters he didn’t hold fears for his personal safety, because he had “fantastic” security and support from the police.

It comes as Mr Barton was forced to defend accusations from the state opposition, who questioned whether a backroom deal had been struck.

Transport Matters Party MP Rod Barton. Picture: Paul Jeffers

Mr Barton said he was not involved in any secret agreements with the government.

“That’s typical of the opposition to come up with such a stupid comment like (that), there is no deals,” he said.

“My relationship with the government is frosty at the best of times. 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 government clinched a deal with Mr Barton, who will vote for the deadlocked legislation after the government agreed to six major changes to get it over the line.

The biggest of these is the establishment of a new panel to independently review appeals to detention enforced by public health orders, removing any control from the state government or the chief health officer.

Public health orders will also be reviewed by a new parliamentary joint special committee.

The committee will be required to have a minority of government MPs and be chaired by someone from either the crossbench or the opposition, to ensure it is independent of the government of the day.

It will be able to recommend against pandemic orders, but this would be done through a disallowance motion that must then go through a majority in both houses of parliament.

Mr Barton’s vote is the crucial piece needed to ensure the state government’s legislation gets over the line before state of emergency powers end on December 15.

Transport Matters Party MP Rod Barton (left) and Reason Party MP Fiona Patten (right) in parliament. Picture: Paul Jeffers

“I’ve been forced into a position to have to deal with this at this late stage,” he said.

“It shouldn’t have come to this.

“All of these concerns would have been dealt with if they’d been more transparent and open.”

Mr Barton said a framework of some kind was needed for the benefit of healthcare workers and vulnerable Victorians, but criticised the government for botching the way the laws were rolled out.

“The sell of the message has been appalling, they’ve lost control of the narrative and this has been the problem,” he said.

Mr Barton on Tuesday said his amendments to the Bill had ultimately “curbed the powers of the premier”.

He added that the establishment of a new parliamentary joint special committee to oversee public health orders was a great improvement to the Bill.

“We’ve taken powers away from SARC … we just thought that was unacceptable and it was widely condemned,” he said.

The new committee will be made up of nine members, including four government members, three in opposition and two crossbenchers with a non-government person as the chair.

“The government (will be) in the minority,” Mr Barton said.

“This committee can actually recommend the disallowance motion.”

Mr Barton said the amended Bill would also remove aggravated offences so no one would end up going to jail for breaching pandemic orders.

But he said he had hoped the government would go “stronger around the joint sitting of the houses”.

Victorian opposition leader Matthew Guy has slammed the amendments. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

‘MICKEY MOUSE’ BILL SLAMMED

But Opposition Leader Matthew Guy says the new changes are “mickey mouse” amendments.

Mr Guy said the government failed to “reach their hand” out to the parliament, only choosing to consult with select MPs.

David Davis, leader of the opposition in the upper house, said Mr Barton’s support for the Bill was against the very reason he entered parliament.

“Rod Barton came into parliament to help the taxi industry. How does this help the taxi industry? … More lockdowns for taxis are not going to help,” he said.

Attorney-General Jaclyn Symes said it was her intention to put the Bill to a vote on Tuesday.

But she could not say what time it would be debated.

“I would hope we avoid filibustering,” she said.

The opposition slammed the government for failing to include them in consultations around the Bill.

“We were there to work with them,” Opposition Leader Matthew Guy told reporters on Tuesday morning.

“Our phone never rang. They never bothered to call, which means they wanted to play politics from the very start.”

When asked why the 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”.

Health Minister Martin Foley added: “Why would you ring an opposition leader who’s had more positions on this Bill than you can imagine? The dysfunction and disingenuousness of the opposition knows no bounds”.

Daniel Andrews has secured the support he needs for his controversial pandemic Bill. Picture: Sarah Matray

“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.”

Mr Andrews refused to accept suggestions that his government’s lack of action in addressing misinformation surrounding the Bill may have prompted a spike in violence outside parliament.

“No one has defended the right to protest more than I have over my career in public life (but) we’re open and safe, not because everyone went to a protest, but because everyone went to a vax hub,” he said.

“I’m not having this narrative that the government is somehow to blame for people behaving in an appalling way on the front steps.”

Sustainable Australia MP Clifford Hayes said he and Mr Barton had brought the government round to “commendable” amendments but he would not support the Bill because he believed they didn’t go far enough.

“A particular component that I was consistently opposed to was the weak disallowance provision that would see a disallowance vote put to a vote in a joint sitting; this is an impossibility due to the government’s strong majority in Houses,” he said.

“I also have serious concerns about the lack of safeguards surrounding the privacy of contact tracing data, the lack of a clear definition of ‘pandemic’ in the legislation and the absence of a clear plan to relieve mandates in a highly vaccinated population.

“This has been a difficult decision and discussions went on into late last night.”

“I didn’t just listen to the expert bodies, but also the hurt, fear and massive concerns in the community.”

Mr Hayes said he had presented the government with a thorough list of changes recommended by bodies such as the Victorian Bar and the Law Institute of Victoria, while also discussing a reprieve of vaccine mandates.

“Some of these issues were addressed, but several key issues were not.”

Bernie Finn says he will continue attending rallies. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

FINN VOWS TO BACK PROTESTERS

A controversial Liberal MP has vowed to continue attending pandemic legislation rallies despite his leader’s directive not to.

Bernie Finn, who has attended various “kill the bill” rallies in recent weeks, told reporters on Tuesday morning that he would continue to attend the events.

“Well, I went on Saturday as a Victorian. I wasn’t speaking, it wasn’t in any official capacity, I joined the masses, and will do it again if need be,” Mr Finn said outside parliament.

Mr Finn added that he had received no official warning from his boss, opposition leader Matthew Guy, instructing him not to go.

Mr Guy later confirmed that he had only spoken to Mr Finn about the matter “broadly in the party room”.

“I’m not going to organise people’s diary for the next week ahead,” he said.

It comes as health authorities deal with a fresh cluster of positive Covid cases linked back to recent CBD protests.

When asked if he had ordered any of his MPs – that had attended protests – to get tested, Mr Guy said: “I don’t think any were (in attendance),” before adding: “I’ll check if anyone was.”

“I’d encourage people to go and get tested even if they’ve got slight symptoms, whether it’s politicians, media, business, protestors,” he said.

The return of Adem Somyurek to the upper house caused deadlock over the controversial Bill. Picture: AAP

WHY BILL WAS DELAYED

The government was forced to delay a vote on the Bill until this week after the intervention of independent Adem Somyurek.

The government assumed it would win an upper house vote with the support of three crossbench MPs: Greens MP Samantha Ratnam, Animal Justice Party’s Andy Meddick and Reason Party leader Fiona Patten who worked with the government to draft the Bill.

But it was stunned when Mr Somyurek broke his self-imposed parliamentary exile, which he had observed since being kicked out of the ALP last June, to indicate his intention to vote against the Bill. He said in its current form the Bill gave “too much power to the government” and could lead to a “tyranny of rule by decree”.

The government has spent the past week negotiating with crossbench MPs Rod Barton of the Transport Matters Party and Sustainable Australia’s Clifford Hayes.

Both MPs were vehemently opposed to the Bill and have major concerns over a several issues and have called for better independent scrutiny of pandemic orders.

Reason Party MP Fiona Patten believes the Bill will pass parliament by the end of this week. Picture: David Crosling

They have delivered a list of amendments to the contentious Bill as they haggle over conditions that could lead to them supporting the Bill before state of emergency powers expire on December 15.

Mr Hayes said that while a resolution to the deadlock was not in sight, negotiations were continuing in good faith.

“We have issues to work through,” he said. “I understand the need for some kind of pandemic framework but if we do not achieve a result that withstands expert and community scrutiny, I will not hesitate to vote against the Bill.”

Debate could start on Tuesday but a vote is not expected until Thursday at the earliest.

Senior minister Jacinta Allan said discussions would continue “for days”, and the government could be forced to bring on extra parliamentary sitting days to push the Bill through.

“The timing of the vote will be determined at the conclusion of those negotiations,” Ms Allan said.

She said the arrival of the Omicron variant in Australia highlighted the importance of introducing a “modern” legislative framework.

“This legislation, in some ways, is more important than ever,” she said.