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NEWSLETTER

 

I attended the annual Daniel Morcombe Ball in Brisbane on the weekend. It is always a great honour to catch up with Denise and Bruce Morcombe and their team, who continue their incredibly important work to promote and improve child safety in memory of their son, Daniel.

Important justice legislation passed the Parliament last week. The Justice Bill included positive measures to help make our justice system more efficient, including allowing remote court attendance, electronic signing and remote witnessing of documents, more flexible arrangements for the Children's Court and electronic monitoring to be made available to those on Community Corrections Orders. I introduced amendments that would have prevented the indefinite shift of decision-making from juries to judges on an offender’s ‘mental fitness’ to stand trial. Unfortunately, our amendments failed 18 to 19. Those that opposed included: Labor, Fiona Patten (Reason Party), Sam Ratnam (Greens) and Andy Meddick (Animal Justice Party).

Among other legislation that passed was a Spent Convictions Scheme, which will automatically limit the disclosure of particular convictions after certain periods. The Legal and Social Issues Committee made specific recommendations regarding the implementation of the scheme following its inquiry last year, but the Government additionally decided to allow for all convictions to be 'spent' for children under the age of 15. Adults will also be able to apply to a magistrate if there has been no offending for 10 years, including serious violent and sexual offences.

We support spent convictions for minor offences where people have duly rehabilitated and demonstrated no further offending, knowing that convictions still stay on the police record without continued public stigma, interference with employment prospects or things like international travel. However, we could not support the prospect that serious violent or sexual offenders could have their record effectively wiped from widely disclosable public criminal records, automatically for under 15s or by application for adults, and so we voted against the Bill. 

This week the Legal and Social Issues Committee will hold public hearings for the Inquiry into Cannabis Use in Victoria and I have a host of meetings with constituents, stakeholders and the Government, from Mildura to Mansfield and in-between.

- Tania

 
 

WORK IN PARLIAMENT

 

Supervised leave from Thomas Embling

Triple murderer Peko Lakovski was granted leave from Thomas Embling maximum security forensic facility, despite having killed two people while previously on a program of leave. I'm further horrified that the victims' family members were not officially informed of the leave. The process is archaic, deeply insensitive and one that prioritises the interests of offenders over their victims, compromising community safety. I want clear answers on who is held accountable when the release of these offenders results in further crime.

Link to Question
 
Link to Speech

Men's Referral Service

The Government allocated significant funding to the arrangements for taking family violence perpetrators (or potential perpetrators) from their homes to other short-term or long-term accommodation.  Recently, an accused perpetrator of family violence (who denied all such claims against him) was immediately removed from his home and then taken to a police station, at which point multiple phone calls were made to the Men’s Referral Service in an attempt to try to find different housing opportunities for him. There was simply no answer to any of these calls and, as a consequence, the man slept on the floor and chairs in a cold police station. I asked the Minister for the Prevention of Family Violence why the Men's Referral Service does not seem to be a 24 hour, 7-day a week service.

 

right@home

The right@home early intervention trial, in which sustained home visits build parenting capacity to improve child safety and school readiness, was developed by Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth (ARACY)  in collaboration with TReSI, the Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne, and the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute. I had the pleasure to meet with representatives of ARACY recently to discuss the early indicators, which at two years found participating children had more regular bedtimes, safer home environments and experienced warmer parenting. There were positive protective effects found at the four-year mark, and the five-six year analysis is underway.

Link to Question
 

Picture: with Jan Winton & Athol Macdonald in Girgarre

Link to Members Statement

Gargarro Botanic Garden

 It was my absolute pleasure to attend and speak at the opening of the Gargarro Botanic Garden in Girgarre. The strong Girgarre community spirit was evident in the way they developed their vision, planning and fundraising to bring the Gargarro Botanic Garden to fruition. This project aims to be an exemplar regional botanic garden that reflects the dry landscapes of the Campaspe region with indigenous flora in a setting that will be functional for the community, a beautiful tourist spot for visitors and a place for social connection, relaxation and discovery. 

 

COVID-19 vaccine supplies

A GP contacted me with concerns about the quantity of COVID-19 vaccinations allocated to their surgery. They were advised by the Federal Government that their allocation of the vaccine will be 50 doses, so it could potentially be 2024 before all priority residents in their area are vaccinated. I asked the Minister for Health to outline what the plan is between State and Federal Governments so that local GPs can organise and inform their patients.

Link to Question
 
Link to Adjournment

ANROWS study on adolescent violence

ANROWS has been funded to undertake a detailed project identifying and tracking the needs of families from marginalised populations who may be experiencing adolescent violence in the home. Most current interventions and responses continue to focus on specific adolescent violence incidents themselves rather than setting them in the wider context of all that is happening within the relevant family. The purpose of this project will be to compile a range of evidence to aid more effective intervention – especially through a whole-of-family, collaborative practice framework that relevant individuals and organisations can ultimately administer. I have been a strong advocate for early intervention to reduce and prevent youth adolescent violence in the family home since I began my journey in the Legislative Council.

 

Emergency notifications

Residents continue to report to me their ongoing frustration with internet blackspots that hamper emergency information. When emergency notifications are delivered by text, general information is provided with a link to further detail. In areas where internet reception is unreliable, more detail needs to be included in the text information to ensure residents are properly informed. I hope the Government will review the system and include more information in the detail of emergency text notifications.

Picture: Bruce Hore, Bright & District Chamber of Commerce

Link to Question
 
Link to Speech

Dookie rail line

I asked the Government to clarify its position on the Dookie rail line's restoration. There are significant potential benefits that the restoration of the line could deliver to many people and organisations, not only in the agricultural sector and around Shepparton and Dookie but also in other industries and across Victoria more widely.

 
 

Bills debated in the Legislative Council

Justice Legislation Amendment (System Enhancements & Other Matters) Bill 2021  - Passed
Spent Convictions Bill 2020 - Passed
Education and Training Reform Amendment (Miscellaneous) Bill 2020 - Passed
Planning and Environment Amendment Bill 2021 - Passed

 
 
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Authorised by Tania Maxwell MP
2, 27-29 Faithfull Street, Wangaratta
03 4700 1787
tania.maxwell@parliament.vic.gov.au
www.taniamaxwell.com.au

Funded from Parliamentary Budget
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