Victoria’s Controversial Pandemic Bill Just Passed After Days Of Debate
MPs spent 21 hours straight debating the bill on Tuesday night.
Victoria’s highly scrutinised pandemic bill has finally passed after lengthy debates continued throughout Tuesday night and most of Wednesday.
The bill’s urgency has been thrust back into the spotlight this week as the new omicron COVID variant has made headlines across the globe, reminding us that the pandemic is far from over.
Following an all-nighter on Spring Street, during which MPs debated every aspect of the pandemic bill from 3pm on Tuesday until well into Wednesday morning, the Andrews government agreed to six new amendments to the bill in order to get it over the line before Victorian Parliament’s last sitting day for the year.
The Pandemic Bill was just passed in the Upper House.
Really pleased that Victorians will now have public health laws going forward with greater checks and balances and improved human rights, as a result of the government working with the Greens & other cross-benchers. 1/3
— Samantha Ratnam – Leader of the Victorian Greens (@SamanthaRatnam) December 2, 2021
Amendments to the bill include reducing penalties for those who breach public health orders and additional human rights protections.
Transport Matters Party MP Rod Barton — who sits on the crossbench — confirmed on Tuesday that he would support the new bill, with the added amendments, in order to get it over the line.
Barton was forced to make his social media accounts private on Tuesday after receiving hate and abuse for supporting the bill.
Other amendments agreed to include the creation of an independent panel to review detention orders, the removal of aggravated offence laws for breaching pandemic orders, and a new joint committee to oversee the laws — independent from the government.
The bill finally passed today — with the security of Barton’s vote — cutting it dangerously close, considering the current emergency powers in place in Victoria expire on December 15.
The Victorian government released a statement on Wednesday, thanking Barton for his support and asserting that the new powers are particularly necessary right now to keep the community safe amid the omicron variant.
“Over the past fortnight, we offered negotiations to the entire crossbench, giving them the opportunity to work with us on changes to this bill that would ensure Victoria has such a framework in place,” the statement read.
“These were rigorous negotiations — and we thank Rod Barton, who came to the table in good faith.”
The decision comes after a gruelling couple of days in Parliament, where MPs slowly worked through more than 80 proposed amendments to the legislation, voting on every single one.
The new laws will come into effect on December 16, the day after the current laws are set to expire.
Protests, which have wreaked havoc in Melbourne’s CBD over the last few weeks, are expected to continue following the ruling.