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Pandemic laws pass upper house: Premier and minister to take charge of health response
By Sumeyya Ilanbey and Marta Pascual Juanola
The Andrews government’s contentious pandemic bill has passed the upper house paving the way for Victoria to become the first jurisdiction in Australia to implement tailor-made pandemic laws.
The legislation will shift the responsibility to declare pandemics and issue health orders from the chief health officer to the premier and health minister once the state of emergency powers expire on December 15.
Standing MPs vote in favour of the pandemic bill in the upper house on Thursday. Credit: Luis Enrique Ascui
Upper house MPs debated the Public Health and Wellbeing Amendment (Pandemic Management) Bill 2021 for 21 hours from 3pm Tuesday until noon on Wednesday.
The legislation was then sent back to the lower house with minor amendments and rushed through just after 7pm on Wednesday.
It eventually passed the upper house with 20 votes to 18 about 3pm on Thursday, thanks to crossbench support from Greens leader Samantha Ratnam, the Reason Party’s Fiona Patten, Andy Meddick, of the Animal Justice Party, and Transport Matters representative Rod Barton.
The proposed laws were the focus of intense public debate over the past month, and central to a series of protest rallies in Melbourne’s CBD.
Under the rules, Thursday’s debate was restricted to the minor amendments previously approved by the lower house.
Outside Parliament on Thursday morning, before that final debate, Health Minister Martin Foley said he was hopeful the Legislative Council would pass the bill.
“[And that will] give us the framework to keep Victoria open and keep Victoria safe,” Mr Foley said.
Victorian Ombudsman Deborah Glass on Wednesday warned it was inevitable there would be future questions about the bill, considering the speed at which it was drafted. A review of the legislation was enshrined in the law to happen 18 months after it gets royal assent.
“This is why I have … 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,” Ms Glass said.
After the legislation passed the upper house, Dr Ratnam credited the crossbench for its success and took a swing at MPs opposing the legislation.
“It’s been a long and important debate and while we’ve confronted many significant issues, it has been disappointing to see some MPs seek to undermine our public health response to COVID with misinformation and posturing, putting the lives of Victorians at risk,” she said.
Dozens of protesters marched from the steps of State Parliament to the gates of Government House on Thursday evening, calling for the resignation of Premier Daniel Andrews and the end of the bill.
Standing upper house MPs vote against Victoria’s pandemic bill on Thursday. Credit: Luis Enrique Ascui
The group set up camp with tarps and foldable chairs on the grass outside the gates of Government House, the official residence of Victorian Governor Linda Dessau, who is poised to give royal assent to the legislation next week.
Police cars lined the road to the residence, as a handful of officers kept a watchful eye on the group who declared they were setting up “for the long haul”.
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