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Justice Legislation Amendment (Supporting Victims and Other Matters) Bill 2020

October 29, 2020/0 Comments/in Parliament /by Suzanna Sheed

I rise to make a contribution on the Justice Legislation Amendment (Supporting Victims and Other Matters) Bill 2020. This legislation is making changes to a number of acts of Parliament. It introduces measures to include reforms to further the rights of victims and their ability to speak of their experiences. It really strengthens victims of crime legislation as well. In addition to this, it amends the Defamation Act 2005 and the Limitation of Actions Act 1958 in relation to the implementation of the model national code. There are amendments to the Corrections Act 1986, the Forest Acts 1958 and various workplace legislation. A significant part of the bill does go to the issue of supporting victims of crime. More particularly it relates to those victims of sexual assault crimes and their ability to tell of their experiences should they wish to do so.

We have been told by the Attorney-General in her second-reading speech that the government heard from many victim-survivors and their advocates as well as other stakeholders. This is a particularly sensitive area and difficult for many to speak of. There are many victim-survivors who are adamant that they want to speak of their experiences, and similarly there are others who fiercely want to protect their right to privacy. Sexual assault victims have suffered extreme trauma, and so often they are haunted by the experiences that come with them for the rest of their lives. I pay my respects to all of those who have suffered in this way and acknowledge their right to speak. It is an important part of their journey, but it also contributes to society’s better understanding of what is so often gender-based violent crime.

I am advised that further work will be conducted in terms of wider consultations in the months ahead, recognising that this can be such a complex area to legislate in. There are many differing views, and we have heard a lot of those this week. I think it is really important that we take into account the range of views, and I understand that the government is going to move on with even further consultation because it is so important that we get this right. I would say to the Attorney-General: in doing this please remember our regional areas. We too have all these issues. We have a centre against sexual assault in Shepparton which does important work along with our courts, lawyers, legal aid—all these organisations often work with and are very close to victims of crime as they go through their processes.

I have noted the reasoned amendment and the house amendments put forward by the member for Caulfield, and I will not be supporting those. I think it is important that we get on with it, even though there is more to be done. While this process perhaps could have been better managed—it seems to have hit some hurdles this week and caused some upset and controversy generally in the community—I do trust that moving forward we can come to a solution that will give people some better ways of resolving these issues.

One of the complaints I have heard just on radio is that the need to go to court can be prohibitive in terms of the costs of lawyering up, in a sense. I do think that this is an area where a victim’s right to go to court should be publicly funded. Now, we do have legal aid and we do have victims of crime services. If that is not the case, I think it is one area where this is not a case of means-testing people. It is a case of people who have suffered greatly who are going to have to go through the trauma and who need support and assistance—and often legal assistance—to do that. I think we should look hard at providing a fund to enable that to happen as part of any further amendments going forward.

I want to make a few comments in relation to the Forests Act 1958. This current bill will enable the secretary to enter into agreements with Fire Rescue Victoria relating to land which falls within the zones that the fire services will manage. Risks of bushfires remain with us and will always be us. The devastating bushfires of the last Christmas period are still really fresh in our memories even though they have been overtaken by so many other things during the course of the year. I want to raise concerns about areas between Shepparton and Mooroopna that are currently at high fire risk. We have had a wonderful season in terms of rainfall across northern Victoria in many parts. We have got fabulous crops growing. The fruit season is looking promising despite the fact that we are struggling to find the workers we will need to pick those crops. But there are many areas—roadsides, public lands, even private properties—that have incredibly tall grass that is currently drying off. It will not be long until we have over 40-degree days in our region, and it will be too late then to do anything about removing, slashing, doing safe burning—these sorts of things.

Now, in between Shepparton and Mooroopna we have part of the Lower Goulburn National Park. It is forest land. I walk there with my dogs on a very regular basis—and very carefully these days because of the risk of snakes. But I have observed for myself and just last year took a trip with some of our CFA officers to observe what was happening there. The tracks need to be looked at—they need to be in a good state of repair so that fire trucks can get in—but more importantly there is a window now to do something about clearing away tall grass.

There are huge areas of young saplings that should not be there anyway, because they impede the natural side of the forest, so there is work that needs to be done, and I would ask the government to, in considering this, put in their minds future works that are needed near regional areas. We only have to see what happened in California—town after town after town burnt to the ground—and even here in Victoria and New South Wales with towns and many houses in towns decimated. We are having fires like never before, and we need to be prepared for them. Along the Goulburn River there are houses and suburbs effectively just on the other side of the river where there is very overgrown forest. Gemmill Swamp backs onto—about from here to that wall, say 50 metres—a whole row of houses. It would just go up like a bomb. It is so overgrown and so in need of some form of forest management.

We have just seen the release yesterday of the Royal Commission into National Natural Disaster Arrangements. The report was presented to the Governor-General just yesterday. It is otherwise known as the bushfires royal commission—the one conducted by the federal government. I do hope we will see the results of that soon, because one of the big issues where there is contention is about this issue of slow burning, whether it be Indigenous burns or by forest or fire services. There needs to be clarity about that. We do not need to just continue to have arguments about it and do nothing. There needs to be a resolution.

Another issue I would just like to mention is that at the moment the Shepparton police station is completely being rebuilt. It has relocated; it is a new fire station. Shepparton’s is one of the few stations that has had an integrated capacity between CFA and Fire Services Victoria, and they will soon be moving into the new fire station. But people have contacted me about the fact that it was intended always that the CFA volunteers would have a four-berth shed built on that same property where the new fire station is currently being built. This has not happened. It is getting near completion, and I am hearing from members of our community who have shown a lot of good faith in coming together to give us an integrated fire service that they are worried it will not happen. And so I raise that just as something that does need to be looked at. Somewhere in head office someone is not paying attention. It needs to be attended to, and I would ask that the goodwill of people who have come together in the Shepparton region to provide our fire services is taken into account. Issues of trust are very important, and I regard that as being a very important issue in our community as well. So on that note I would say that I support the bill.

Click here to view this record on Hansard

https://suzannasheed.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/default-post-image.jpg 300 300 Suzanna Sheed https://suzannasheed.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Sheed-Logo-V2.png Suzanna Sheed2020-10-29 17:43:342020-11-11 14:42:11Justice Legislation Amendment (Supporting Victims and Other Matters) Bill 2020

Vale John Gray

October 29, 2020/0 Comments/in Parliament /by Suzanna Sheed

Members Statement:

Today I pay tribute to John Gray, a respected civic leader and friend from the Shepparton community who recently died at the age of 82. He was an educator who did his teachers training at Burwood Teachers College and eventually was sent to St Germains, a small hamlet near Shepparton. Over the years he taught at Shepparton North Technical College, Tatura Primary School and then Mooroopna Park Primary School. John served as a councillor for the Shire of Rodney from 1972 to 1986 and was shire president four times. He was a councillor for the Greater Shepparton City Council from 1997 to 2005.

John was described as a councillor for the people. His interest in local government extended beyond his elected years, and he always maintained a keen interest in it. He was regular columnist with the Shepparton News for 33 years, commentating on current local issues up until the time of his death. He had a remarkable recall of the events occurring within the Shepparton district and had an extensive network connection at every level.

John made a significant contribution to the Mooroopna Cricket Club. He was a former club president, treasurer, life member and also best club person. The John Gray Oval and John Gray Avenue were named in honour of him and his contributions. He served on countless community boards and committees. He was a man of great generosity with a sharp wit and good humour and has left a long-lasting impression on our community. We are all the better for having known him. I offer my sincere condolences to his wife, Barbara, and children, Kate, Cam and Meg. Vale, John Gray.

Click here to view this record on Hansard

https://suzannasheed.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/default-post-image.jpg 300 300 Suzanna Sheed https://suzannasheed.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Sheed-Logo-V2.png Suzanna Sheed2020-10-29 13:41:522020-11-11 14:42:11Vale John Gray

Regional Media

October 28, 2020/0 Comments/in Parliament /by Suzanna Sheed

Matter of Public Importance – proposed and led by Suzanna Sheed MP

Before the drought, before the bushfires, before coronavirus, regional media was in trouble. As evidenced by many media reports—and that is somewhat of an irony—the closure of Victorian and Australian regional media outlets has been accelerating. Following decades of contraction, we are now witnessing takeovers, consolidations and closures like never before.

In just June last year WIN Television station closed its WIN News bureaus in Orange, Wagga Wagga, Albury and Bundaberg. Just this year we lost our Channel 9 reporter from Shepparton. At the start of March it was announced that AAP would soon cease, with the loss of 180 media jobs. This was shocking news in the media industry. At the eleventh hour it was bought by a philanthropic group of investors and will continue to produce but with a much smaller staff.

Earlier in the year it looked like here in Victoria we would lose Mildura’s Sunraysia Daily, the Swan Hill Guardian, the Gannawarra Times from Kerang and the Loddon Times in Loddon Mallee. Most of these have been able to continue again by reducing their capacity and publication dates. This year News Corp announced the suspension of printing of 60 regional newspapers across the country, with only three of them resuming print. This is part of the News Corp digital-only strategy, where a reporter is locally embedded in a region that a digital masthead covers. Presently they have trialled 16 of these sorts of publications with only one reporter in each community.

It is not clear whether this strategy will continue and roll out for some 76 other print publications, but if so, there will be a massive loss of journalists in our regions.

It can be difficult to identify how many newspapers and television and radio outlets have been closed down in regional areas, or left, in recent years. The Australian newsroom mapping project, which is conducted by the Public Interest Journalism Initiative, suggests that there have been contractions of about 192 newsrooms and 54 expansions and a net loss therefore of 138 newsrooms. This may or may not be accurate because we hear anecdotally of many others.

These closures cannot be measured in raw dollar terms. They impact our entire communities. These closures come at tremendous cost culturally, economically and even democratically. The ABC performs a vital role in regional and rural communities, and that is evidenced by their bushfire crisis coverage and by an ongoing dedicated presence in the bush via television, radio and online. But the ABC is a stretched service. It has nowhere near the media resources of our combined country and other media organisations that currently employ journalists in the hundreds across our state.

Rural and regional media place journalists in the courtrooms, they place them in council chambers, they follow state and federal politics and they hold local, state and federal politicians to account. Regional journalists hold me to account, and so they should. Rarely a day goes by when my office is not fielding questions from a local media organisation—television, radio, print and online—on the policies held by me, my peers, the state government and local leaders and on the happenings in my community and the direction we are travelling.

They publicise public campaigns. I dare say that without the fantastic media coverage we had, our 2015 All Aboard campaign, when hundreds of members of our community jumped on the train to Melbourne to protest for better rail services from Shepparton to Melbourne, would not have been successful—had it not been for the extraordinary media coverage that we were able to harness. That campaign amounted to stages 1 and 2 being fully funded, with a further $320 million recently announced by the federal government, an investment that will produce nine VLocity trains from Shepparton to Melbourne—over $600 million worth of investment out of a community campaign.

Local newspapers, television and radio gave both proponents and opponents of the new Greater Shepparton Secondary College a forum to express their views loudly and clearly. This is a valuable form of communication between me and my constituents, because I do not get to dictate the terms. I am challenged, I am required to explain myself and my thoughts and politics, and my words are weighed up against those of others in the game along with those of experts who hold their own opinions. The audience is truly enriched by this process and the function of journalists as they present the multiple views across so many audiences. This coverage allows the reader, watcher or listener to judge the merits of whatever argument is being made in context rather than someone like myself just dictating the terms of it.

But I am not just a subject of the local news; I am also an avid consumer. As a member of my community I am connected to and saddened by the loss of each and every journalist. Previously that loss was felt when one of ours went off to expand their career from the regions to the cities—people like Barrie Cassidy, who started writing for a small weekly newspaper in his home town of Chiltern and later went on to the Border Mail, then to the Shepparton News before going on to the Herald Sun and the ABC and having a very distinguished career, before his retirement. Annika Smethurst started her regional reporting career at the Bendigo Weekly. So many others—Tony Wright, Zoe Daniel, Ben Knight; I could go on at length—all started in regional newsrooms, where they learned their professions, crafted their skills and learned how to present the news.

We want people to succeed in the country and we want them to go off and do great things, but their loss is felt greatly. When they leave, when they lose their jobs and they have nowhere else to go, we lose them from the profession. Many are now looking for work in fields other than their chosen profession. This devalues their education, their training and the experience they have built up over years. Country journalists, however, do not just serve up politics and court and cover the local community. They do cover those things. They cover netball, sport, cricket. They cover BMX and motocross and fishing and equestrian—all part of the local mix of our communities.

They venture into our schools and our aged-care facilities, our churches and our clubs. They attend our local festivals and events, our plays and our musicals. Our local Shepparton Theatre Arts Group often has the talent of local journalists, such as ABC’s Matt Dowling, strut the stage in many performances. They participate. They do not just report on sporting events; they participate in that local sport. These journalists cover our culture. They explain it, they curate it, they disseminate it and they store it. These journalists also form a guard against corruption.

Studies out of the UK, the US and Australia indicate that where local media closes, communities suffer a commensurate rise in corruption, political disengagement and a heightened distrust in public institutions. The author of a 2016 King’s College London study, Dr Martin Moore, observes:

We can all have our own social media account, but when local papers are depleted or in some cases simply don’t exist, people lose a communal voice. They feel angry, not listened to and more likely to believe malicious rumour.

And haven’t we seen that.

In 2019 Australia’s Public Interest Journalism Initiative found that a third of local government areas reported no journalists attending local government meetings. Last year’s Australian Local Government Association annual report lamented that a large part of local government business goes entirely unscrutinised and unreported. In the United States the term ‘news desert’ has been coined. A recent report by Harvard Business Review claims:

The demise of local newspapers … is also linked to a rise in local corruption and an increase in polarization, as news consumers rely more on partisan-inflected national outlets for their information.

The academic evidence has been building for decades and supports the notion that local media is both vital and in crisis.

So what is going wrong? Ask any editor or advertising manager and you will receive a different answer, which amounts to the same answer. The editor will tell you that the media giants, primarily Google and Facebook, are stealing their content, while the ad manager will tell you that the same entities are taking their revenue. It amounts to a serious attack on our vulnerable newsrooms that they cannot fend off and becomes particularly concerning when considering Google and Facebook do not even create content but merely collate it and serve it up in one form or another. Google and Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, Instagram and all the other social media giants will never replace the local knowledge, the curiosity and the dedication to journalistic ethics of those employed in the media within our communities. We are now coming to see that they craft and manipulate information to suit their long-term needs. For those of you who have not yet watched The Social Dilemma, a documentary exploring the dangerous human impact of social networking, with tech experts sounding the alarm at their own work, you should do so straightaway.

For about two decades local media have been struggling with how to transform themselves into digital platforms to varying degrees. Many have tried. They are trying to be innovative. They are branching out into data journalism, into blogs and into podcasts and are creating content to try and please the broader audience. They have experimented with paywalls, and many during the COVID crisis have taken down their paywalls just so that their communities can access information freely. And yet now with the coronavirus they are facing their very own crisis—just when we need them the most. Simultaneously, sources of advertising—the precious revenue that keeps journalists, photographers, camera operators, editors, subeditors and producers paid and the news flowing—have plummeted as local businesses shut down or close or simply minimise their expenditure during COVID.

Governments can help, and in this regard I think it is important to note that at a local government level we have seen the significant removal of local government advertising from our local newspapers. Things like annual business plans and budgets, rates declarations and variations, service charges—I could go on—all the sorts of things that you would normally see in the classifieds section of a local newspaper have now been removed and put over on the local government website.

That is not where people go to see those sorts of things. It is a much more random exposure than people in the community want and demand. If it is not in that scanning of a newspaper, it is often entirely missed, and again that is that notion of lack of scrutiny generally.

Local government can play a significant part in all of this by resuming advertising, but I am very concerned to see that our current Local Government Act 2020 actually removes any obligation that used to be there on local government to advertise in newspapers, and I think that must be rectified. You might wonder what governments have been doing about all of this. The very existence of Save Our Voices, the website advocating for change to preserve regional media, points to a lack of government engagement on this topic.

There are things that can be done. Firstly, we could all subscribe to our local newspapers, print and online, and support our local radio stations and news media rooms. Secondly, local government could do as I have said—publicly advertise. The state government can continue its support through advertising. But the one thing that is very clear is that we have an extraordinarily outdated Australian broadcasting act. It has been there for a very long time, with only a small bit of reform along the way. I am hearing from many people of the need for an absolute revamp of that legislation. It barely takes into account the fact that the internet is here, and it has been here for a long time. Organisations like Southern Cross Austereo, Prime, WIN and ACM have banded together to form this Save Our Voices website, but they are really struggling to get governments to come to the party to talk to them, to talk about the one-to-a-market rule and some of these really important initiatives. Lowering the threshold for public interest journalism grants is an important feature of what could be done. There is an opportunity for tax rebates. There are all sorts of things that governments could do, particularly at a federal level.

In closing, I would just like to say that the result of the ongoing contraction of media diversity in our regional areas means that there will be less transparency, less access to information for those who are not deliberately going in search of it and ultimately a lot less accountability. This denigrates our democratic processes. To be able to participate you must first be informed and you must be educated. If we wish to maintain a healthy and vibrant media now and when we emerge on the other side of this health crisis, regional media need the support of government and the support of their communities. The alternative is a future without regional media, and that is a future I do not want and neither should you.

Click here to view this record on Hansard

https://suzannasheed.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/default-post-image.jpg 300 300 Suzanna Sheed https://suzannasheed.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Sheed-Logo-V2.png Suzanna Sheed2020-10-28 13:30:412020-11-11 14:42:11Regional Media

Sheed calls for urgent government action to support regional media

October 28, 2020/0 Comments/in Latest News, Media Releases /by Suzanna Sheed

Independent Member for Shepparton District Suzanna Sheed has called on state and federal governments to support regional media to avert a major crisis in Australian society and democracy.

“Studies in the UK, the US and Australia indicate where local media closes, communities suffer a rise in corruption, political disengagement and a heightened distrust in public institutions,” she told the Victorian Parliament Wednesday (28 October 2020).

Addressing parliament on a Matter of Public Importance, Ms Sheed said audiences are also enriched by access to local news from journalists who live and work in regional communities.

“These journalists present multiple viewpoints to their audiences. This coverage allows the reader, watcher and listener to judge the merits of whatever argument is being made in context, rather than someone like myself simply dictating an opinion through media releases and social media posts.”

“I am connected and saddened by the loss of each and every local journalist.”

Ms Sheed said the multi-national social media and search engine giants were taking content and advertising revenue from rural media without adding value for communities.

Digital media giants “will never replace the local knowledge, curiosity and dedication to journalistic ethics of those employed in the media who live within our communities,” she said.

Ms Sheed said: “Local, state and federal governments should support local newspapers through advertising and they should be required to do so by law.”

But the 2020 Local Government Act has removed references to council requirements to publish in local newspapers, she said.

Ms Sheed said that the following steps can be taken to help save local regional media:

• Individuals can subscribe to their local newspapers in print and online, support local radio stations and news media rooms

• Local government should be required to continue publicly advertising much of its day- to-day operations, tenders, planning applications, changes to rates etc in local media

• State governments should, by law, support regional media through advertising

• Federal Government should should, by law, support regional media through advertising, provide tax breaks, review the Australian Broadcasting Act, and review the one-media-outlet to-market rule

• The threshold for access to public interest journalism grants should be lowered

Ms Sheed said: “The result of this ongoing contraction of media diversity in our regional areas will be that there will be less transparency, less access to information for those who are not deliberately going in search of it and ultimately less accountability. This denigrates our democratic processes.”

“To be able to participate you must first be informed and educated.”

ENDS

Media contact

Jacqui Hawkins 0403 657 267 │ jacqui.hawkins@parliament.vic.gov.au

Click here for PDF version

https://suzannasheed.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/news.jpg 417 417 Suzanna Sheed https://suzannasheed.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Sheed-Logo-V2.png Suzanna Sheed2020-10-28 13:28:102020-11-11 14:42:11Sheed calls for urgent government action to support regional media

Government delivers on requests from Suzanna Sheed to better support Shepparton

October 15, 2020/0 Comments/in Latest News, Media Releases /by Suzanna Sheed

The Independent Member for Shepparton District Suzanna Sheed has provided the Premier with urgent advice that the government has acted upon to help contain the COVID-19 outbreak in Shepparton.

The Premier phoned Ms Sheed to ask what support the government could provide to Shepparton.

Ms Sheed requested:

• Bottled water for those in line for COVID tests

• For high-risk individuals to be prioritised in COVID testing lines

• For the government to open a testing location in Mooroopna, and • For vulnerable community members to be tested in their homes

Today the Victorian Premier said he would act on Ms Sheed’s advice, which had come from consulting with community members.

Ms Sheed has also spoken with the Minster for Health and last night received a briefing from the Victorian Deputy Chief Health Officer.

“I will keep phoning government ministers over the coming days and continue to request what our community needs. I won’t be stopping.”

Ms Sheed’s office is still taking calls from constituents to hear their concerns, answer questions and compile a list of further actions that she can take to the government for rapid implementation.

“I want community members to contact my office so we can tell the government to do what is needed for the health and safety of everyone in Shepparton.”

“I will continue to work hard on the community’s behalf to ensure our community is protected,” Ms Sheed said.

ENDS

Media contact

Jacqui Hawkins 0403 657 267│jacqui.hawkins@parliament.vic.gov.au

Click here for PDF version

https://suzannasheed.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/covid.-jpg.jpg 640 1136 Suzanna Sheed https://suzannasheed.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Sheed-Logo-V2.png Suzanna Sheed2020-10-15 16:00:302020-11-11 14:42:11Government delivers on requests from Suzanna Sheed to better support Shepparton

COVID-19 Shepparton response

October 14, 2020/0 Comments/in Parliament /by Suzanna Sheed

Question without notice: …Minister, will you send more assistance from Melbourne and other regional clinics that you have already established to Goulbourn Valley Health to get this testing done and ensure that the test results are made available as quickly as possible to each and every person who is submitting themselves for those tests?

Minister Response –  (Mr FOLEY Albert Park—Minister for Health, Minister for Ambulance Services, Minister for Equality, Minister for the Coordination of Health and Human Services: COVID-19) (13:27): I thank the member for Shepparton for her question and for her commitment to her community. The short answer is yes, and the extended answer is, as the honourable member has pointed out, that there have been three coronavirus cases diagnosed overnight. All are related to an incident whereby a nondeclared visit, but a permitted visit, to the Shepparton community was not declared by a person who subsequently tested positive and also was the index source for the Kilmore outbreak. I can confirm for the record that a number of high-risk sites have been identified—Central Tyre Service, Mooroopna Golf Club members bar, Bombshell hairdressing, Thai Orchid restaurant and the Shepparton Marketplace Medical Centre—and the dates and times at which those sites were made high risk are widely available in the Shepparton and surrounding communities.

If you are in these high-risk areas, then the instructions are that you should seek urgently to get to one of the so far three established sites in the Shepparton community, those being the Goulburn Valley Health acute respiratory clinic, a site that has been set up in the showgrounds at Shepparton and the Shepparton respiratory clinic, and there will be further resources put into setting up further testing facilities. In addition to those high-risk locations, the public health teams have also identified Bunnings Warehouse in Shepparton, McDonald’s in Shepparton, the Lemon Tree Cafe and the Mooroopna Golf Club pro shop as also locations of concern. Instructions for anyone who has visited these sites are to come forward, get tested and stay at home and await your results. For the rest of the community in Shepparton, anyone who has even the mildest symptoms should get tested and should isolate at home whilst awaiting their results. Indeed I can, through you, Speaker, give the member for Shepparton and the wider community of Shepparton every assurance that all the efforts for testing, for community contact tracing and particularly the efforts of the regional local public health units, together with any support they need from the central public health units, will be provided to ensure that the strong civic spirit of the Shepparton community and the strong commitments that the Shepparton community have to one another’s collective wellbeing will be supported by all the necessary resources to make sure that we identify this virus and respond to it in the most timely and effective manner.

Supplementary question: Minister, I am concerned that the third clinic, the commonwealth clinic, is actually not having people coming in on a regular basis—there is a recording there. A member of my staff was not able to make an appointment until tomorrow, so something ought to be done to address the level of that service. But more particularly, Minister, can you guarantee that my community will be extended everything possible to ensure that best-practice contact tracing is employed for Shepparton and that the government will provide all the resources that are needed to put that in place?

Minister response – (Mr FOLEY Albert Park—Minister for Health, Minister for Ambulance Services, Minister for Equality, Minister for the Coordination of Health and Human Services: COVID-19) (13:31): I thank the member for her supplementary question. Once again I can give the member that undertaking. In regard to whether they are commonwealth-supported facilities or state-supported facilities, we will ensure that all the necessary resources are there to enable the most timely and effective response for testing and contact tracing and the necessary supports for those people who need to isolate as a result of those.

In particular I want to give a shout-out to the Goulburn Valley Health local public health unit and the support that they have received from the other four regional public health units to make sure that all the resources are being brought to bear where they need to be and indeed to extend the same principle that we saw work so effectively in Kilmore—that we deal not only with the people so far identified as infected and not only their close contacts but that third ring of the close contacts of the close contacts, who will also be pursued in this manner

https://suzannasheed.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/default-post-image.jpg 300 300 Suzanna Sheed https://suzannasheed.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Sheed-Logo-V2.png Suzanna Sheed2020-10-14 15:46:262020-11-11 14:42:11COVID-19 Shepparton response

Motion: No Confidence in Government

October 13, 2020/0 Comments/in Parliament /by Suzanna Sheed

I rise to make a contribution on this no-confidence motion brought by the Leader of the Opposition. I would like to say that I am very pleased that we are back in Parliament and in a somewhat normal sense in that we are here for three days and that we seem to be resuming a timetable that was upset during the course of the year. It is so important that we sit safely and that we obey a whole lot of rules, but it is a hallmark of our democracy that our Parliament should sit and should do so regularly. Another hallmark of our democracy is the fact that we have elections every four years, and at those elections the people of Victoria decide who will be the government. Just less than two years ago we had a state election, and the government today was overwhelmingly elected to govern this state. I see no reason at this time to support any motion that would upset that.

We are in the middle of the worst disaster, the worst emergency, in over 100 years, and this is not a
time for upset or disruption; this is a time for standing together as Victorians and trying to get the
results that the member for Melbourne has so well put: we all want to get back to some sort of normal.
This is not a time that you would wish on any government, whether it be a state, territory or federal
government, and it has been very pleasing to see the way that governments generally have stood up to
what they have been faced with during this year. But they do have to be accountable, and there are a
couple of things I would like to point out that I feel pretty disappointed in relation to the government.

The first goes back to late March, early April, when many offers were made for a joint parliamentary
COVID committee—to come together, to work together in a sense of cooperation so that we could
advise, we could assist, we could help the state work together and bring more information to the
government about what was happening. I think the denigration of that idea and the fact that it was not
taken up has partly contributed to what has been and what has become a very hostile political
environment. The federal government allowed the Senate to do it, New Zealand have such a
committee. Other governments instigated those sorts of committees where Parliament was not going
to sit for some time, as a safety measure. So I think that was a mistake.

Here in Victoria our crossbenchers and Independents were very loud in calling for that to happen. In
the early weeks and months that followed the pandemic many extraordinary things happened, things that we never thought we would see—the closing of international borders, the lockdowns, the
quarantines—nothing that we had really contemplated in our lifetimes. We were surprised that even
these powers actually existed, and in those early months there was a lot of praise for the way leaders
stood up and took to the helm and instigated at very short notice a whole lot of processes that made
people feel to some extent confident that they were in good hands. In my community there were many
people who in the same breath were lauding the Prime Minister and our Premier. It was extraordinary
in a fairly conservative electorate that that might have been taking place, but people had a level of
confidence that I had not seen before and that was very much needed at that time.

So the months have marched on, and through April, May and June the hotel quarantine system was
set up and failed. We have seen the results of that. It has brought about a whole lot more community
illness. It has brought about many deaths that we may have avoided had that not happened. One of the
other mistakes that I think was made very early on, and this came out during the hotel quarantine
inquiry, is that the chief health officer was sidelined. He, under the Victorian emergency health plan,
should have been the state controller. He should have been in charge. It should have been a health
response, not a logistics response. I think we are still seeing the consequences of that, and it is very
disappointing. I do wonder even now why the chief health officer is not in charge, because this is a
health pandemic. There are social and economic consequences for sure, but I think that the Department
of Health and Human Services really made a mistake in putting those things first rather than the health
consequences.

Out there in that evidence that we have heard over recent times there is an acknowledgement that
within our department of health there is a serious lack of qualified people to deal with infection control,
to deal with pandemics—to deal with these sorts of health issues. It was admitted in the evidence that
the department is short on those sorts of skills. Now, that must in itself have contributed to the lack of
skill and capacity when it came to contact tracing—again a very serious consequence and one we are
still hearing instances of as we go forward. I have little doubt that if a full health response had been in
place early on, the situation in hotel quarantine may have been different because the chief health officer
would have been looking at infection control, not logistics. And it probably would not have mattered
whether there were security guards or police or ADF members at that time, because infection control
and the health issues would have been paramount and that would in itself have taken care of so many
of the problems that then took place.

There are many learnings that we will take away this year from what has happened, and some of those
are very much about this place: about how Parliament should be able to meet in times of crisis, about
attending Parliament remotely and about being allowed to vote even if you cannot come in. For many
of us regional members this is the first sitting of Parliament that many of us have come to since June,
and that is very disenfranchising not only for the members but for our communities.

There are those people who feel that maybe herd immunity is the way to go, that it is just survival of
the fittest, but I have to say that I am very grateful that we live in a country where every government in
the country has taken the view that everyone should be protected and that the goal has been to look after
our community and protect them. Even though by far the majority of the deaths we have seen from this
virus in Sydney and Melbourne and across the country have been in our more vulnerable communities,
their lives do matter; their lives have mattered. I would like to take this opportunity just to extend my
condolences to every family who has been affected by the loss of someone from coronavirus, and I
extend that to members of my extended family who in aged care have suffered that result.

This crisis has exposed some very deep and serious vulnerabilities within our community, and I believe
that it is time to bring on a review of our health department and our aged-care services. And it is very
disappointing, I have to say, that in the federal government’s budget just passed the opportunity was
not taken to do something about aged care. During the early stage of the pandemic, during July and
August when cases of coronavirus were ramping up in Shepparton, I rang every aged-care facility in
my city.

They were anxious. They were short-staffed. They had people calling in, with insufficient staff to even
meet the day’s requirements. There was no plan for backup staff at a federal level should the numbers
escalate in aged care, and there were many, many of those institutions that had workers working across
two or three places, including the local hospital. We know that these are the really fundamental
problems in aged care. And what has been done to address them?

I think that that is an opportunity in a budget where it is argued that women have been left out. There
is no doubt that when it comes to the care of children and the aged women are the predominant carers
in our communities. They are quick to do it and they do an incredible job, and to all of those carers out
there I just say thank you so much for the work that you do in all those areas in our community. It falls
to women to do those jobs, and women need to be sufficiently paid. They need to have job security.
They need to have full-time work when they need it and not be forced to work across multiple
institutions.

I have been gutted tonight to have a briefing from the Minister for Health to say that in Shepparton we
have just had two active cases. We had a big run of cases in July. We got on top of it, suppressed it,
and we have been clear for many weeks. To find out that just tonight there are two active cases,
possibly with many contacts for our community, is extremely upsetting. It comes at a time when for
all of us—in regional Victoria but especially here in Melbourne; I just see it driving in—life has been
sucked out of this place, and it is a truly tragic thing to see. I am not here to blame people for that,
because it is the virus that is doing it. It is absolutely running rampant across the world, as we know.
But we had a moment of hope, I think, that in regional Victoria we might have been able to have a
much better result—to be able to be more isolated and to be able to free up even more. I am obviously
grateful that we are in a better position than Melbourne, but news like that can just really be so
devastating in our communities where we feel like we were really getting on top of it.

I think to bring a no-confidence motion is a very serious thing, and to do it at a time like this is
disingenuous, really. People in my community are not calling on me to vote no confidence in the
government. Of all the emails that have landed in my email in the last three or four days, five of them
are from my constituents. The rest are from God knows who. They do not put their name and address
on them, most of them. I do not know where they are even generated from, quite frankly, and I am
very suspicious of it. There will be people in my community who have lost confidence in the
government, but I am put here as an Independent. People have to rely on me to make a decision on
this—me alone. I do not get told how to vote, and I feel quite confident in voting against this motion
of no confidence that people really are looking for something different at the moment. They are not
looking for this sort of extraordinary ill will, this building up of a feeling of divisiveness. They want
us to get out of this. They want to find solutions. They want us to be the ones to lead them through it,
and that is a great responsibility.

People who are vulnerable in our community in particular deserve to be looked after, and we must do
everything that we can to do that. I have to say, and this is on a gloomy note, I do not consider that we
are in a second wave. We are just in a second lockdown. We only have to look at what is happening
in the rest of the world to see that the second wave is yet to come, and that will come next March and
April as we go into winter. Now, as far as I can see, on this side there is no road map for that. On that
side there is a bit of a road map. There is a road map that we can look forward to, there is a bit of
experience and there are some learnings from mistakes. But here—what are we doing? The road map
that the Leader of the Opposition has asked for is: ‘Let’s lift the 5-kilometre rule’. Well, how good is that? We have had that lifted. We are lucky in regional Victoria because we have had some of that happen. But we need a road map because we have got a lot more coming. I am not seeing a road map on this side of the house, and that is something that needs to be addressed. We need to be together on this.

I think I have said enough really. I think it is pretty clear that I will not be voting for this because in
this time we need to be working together, not dividing communities the way that this motion of no
confidence does.

Click here to view this record on Hansard

https://suzannasheed.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/default-post-image.jpg 300 300 Suzanna Sheed https://suzannasheed.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Sheed-Logo-V2.png Suzanna Sheed2020-10-13 22:21:012020-11-11 14:42:12Motion: No Confidence in Government

Sheed welcomes Stage Three Funding for Shepparton Rail

October 5, 2020/0 Comments/in Latest News, Media Releases /by Suzanna Sheed

Independent Member for Shepparton District Suzanna Sheed has welcomed the pre-budget announcement that stage three of the Shepparton rail line upgrade will receive $320m in tomorrow’s 2020/21 Federal Budget.

“This is fantastic and welcome news for our community. Stage three will ensure we can have 9 velocity trains run each week day between Shepparton and Melbourne. It will be transformational in many ways and set the scene for even more services in the future,” Ms Sheed said.

“In 2015 the All Aboard campaign took to the steps of the Victorian Parliament calling for better rail services for our region. Since then $356 million has been committed by the Victorian State Government to the Shepparton rail line with stage one providing 10 additional train services and 29 bus services weekly.

Just last month the contracts were signed for Stage two which will deliver the infrastructure for VLocity trains to travel to and from Shepparton for the first time, improving reliability and making journeys more comfortable for passengers,” Ms Sheed said.

Ms Sheed said that the community led campaign from the Shepparton District has been the important force that has made a strong case to both the state and federal government for better rail and it could not be ignored. “It has been our community’s strong advocacy which saw the Victorian State government fund stages one and two of this project and we now we have stage 3,” Ms Sheed said.

“This investment comes at a critical time for our region as our local economy has really felt the stress from COVID-19. It is so good to see our state and federal governments working together on these nation building projects. The Shepparton rail project will play an important role both at a national and state level to lead recovery and support employment in the region,” Ms Sheed said.

ENDS

Media contact Jacqui Hawkins 0403 657 267│jacqui.hawkins@parliament.vic.gov.au

Click here for PDF version

https://suzannasheed.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/credit-shepp-news-1-scaled.jpg 1706 2560 Suzanna Sheed https://suzannasheed.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Sheed-Logo-V2.png Suzanna Sheed2020-10-05 15:06:162020-11-11 14:42:12Sheed welcomes Stage Three Funding for Shepparton Rail

Sheed Calls for Budgets to make Joint Investments in Regions

October 4, 2020/0 Comments/in Media Releases /by Suzanna Sheed

Independent Member for Shepparton District Suzanna Sheed says it’s time for the political parties to put aside their differences and work together to ensure the best and most appropriate projects are funded as governments put the final touches on their 2020/21 budgets.

“We need to build upon the bipartisan approach governments showed earlier in the year in dealing with the management of the COVID-19 health crisis. When the Federal and State governments came together in a National Cabinet we were able to respond quickly to the needs of our communities across Australia. It is important that governments continue with a cooperative approach when it comes to funding major projects which will provide jobs and assist our economy in what will no doubt be a long-term recovery,” Ms Sheed said.

“In my budget discussions with the Victorian Treasurer I highlighted the long-term major projects that need to continue to be funded and brought through to completion in the Shepparton District. While smaller capital works projects are on the funding radar, as they too will provide jobs at a local level, this is a time to look at the big picture and big projects that will provide long term investment and employment in the region.

It would be fantastic to see the Federal government come together with the state to fund stage 3 of the Shepparton rail line redevelopment. Our community’s strong advocacy saw the Victorian State government fund stages 1 and 2 and we now wait for stage 3 which will see 9 velocity trains run each week day between Shepparton and Melbourne. It will be transformational in many ways and set the scene for even more services in the future.

I have worked hard to make sure the Shepparton line upgrade is firmly on the Victorian government’s agenda and I would expect the unfunded third stage to be on their priority list of projects as they further discussions with the federal government.

I have long advocated for the building of the Shepparton bypass and I’ve been told that the business case will be completed by the end of this year. This will create a perfect opportunity for both the state and federal government to progress a major nation building project, joining our national highways through Victoria and up to the New South Wales border, and create many jobs in our region for years to come,” Ms Sheed said.

“There are many other important projects to be funded and regional Victoria should be included in the major recovery investments proposed by both State and Federal governments,” Ms Sheed said.

ENDS

Media contact

Jacqui Hawkins 0403 657 267│jacqui.hawkins@parliament.vic.gov.au

Click here for PDF version

https://suzannasheed.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/default-post-image.jpg 300 300 Suzanna Sheed https://suzannasheed.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Sheed-Logo-V2.png Suzanna Sheed2020-10-04 13:06:392020-11-11 14:42:12Sheed Calls for Budgets to make Joint Investments in Regions

Sheed Calls for Easing of Restrictions in the Regions

October 2, 2020/0 Comments/in Media Releases /by Suzanna Sheed

Independent Member for Shepparton District Suzanna Sheed says she has written to the Premier throwing her support behind the calls from many others in regional Victoria to move towards an easinof restrictions in our regional areas.

In doing so she has pointed out that she receives communications every day from a range of community and business people who have been affected by current restrictions and are looking to reopen their businesses. Gymnasiums and fitness centres, dance studios and children’s play centres are now ready to open safely and are desperate to do so.

“Members of the clergy have contacted me directly and are most anxious to be able to meet with greater numbers of their congregation together again. Broadcasting of services has been difficult with so few people able to be present to arrange the broadcasts. Our churches provide a range of services and support to so many people in our community who have had to remain very isolated over recent months. To be able to attend larger gatherings and socialise again would be an enormous benefit to their physical, mental and emotional well-being,” Ms Sheed said.

“While Shepparton experienced an outbreak in early August with two clusters of coronavirus being identified, the decentralisation of contact tracing to GV Health meant that it was quickly brought under control and it is now weeks since we have had an active case in the Shepparton.

Business owners are ready to activate their businesses to the fullest extent possible and service their communities again,” she said.

Ms Sheed maintains that with school students now returning from remote learning back into schools many regional Victorians should be able to return to their offices and places of work.

“Here in regional Victoria we do not have many of the issues associated with multistorey buildings, lifts and escalators and other factors that are relevant in workplaces in Melbourne. It would be possible for many workers to return to their workplace and with COVID-19 work plans, to safely do so,” Ms Sheed said.

ENDS

Media contact

Jacqui Hawkins 0403 657 267│jacqui.hawkins@parliament.vic.gov.au

Click here for PDF version

https://suzannasheed.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/default-post-image.jpg 300 300 Suzanna Sheed https://suzannasheed.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Sheed-Logo-V2.png Suzanna Sheed2020-10-02 15:18:012020-11-11 14:42:12Sheed Calls for Easing of Restrictions in the Regions

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