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Adjournment of pandemic bill debate opportunity to improve legislation: LIV
Following the announcement that the pandemic bill debate would be adjourned, Victoria’s peak legal body has asked members of Parliament to reconsider the legislation, make the necessary improvements and implement more safeguards.
Naomi Neilson
Despite expectations that the Public Health and Wellbeing Amendment (Pandemic Management) Bill would have passed on Thursday, 19 November, the declaration by former Labor minister Adem Somyurek that he would return to Parliament to vote against the legislation – and therefore result in a tie – has postponed the debate.
In a new statement, president Tania Wolff commented: “As the LIV has said from the outset, there needs to be independent oversight and scrutiny. There also needs to be provisions for accessible merits review of detention orders. We have made a number of recommendations as to how the bill can and should be improved.”
The proposed legislation will shift the power to declare a pandemic from the chief health officer to the Premier, in addition to allowing the state’s pandemic status to be declared for up to three months at a time. Victorian Health Minister Martin Foley said the legislation had been created based on the experiences of the last two years.
Primary concerns about this legislation, however, include whether the powers are too broad and lack the “appropriate checks and balances” to ensure it is properly exercised. Victorian Bar Association immediate past president Christopher Blanden QC previously said it was the “greatest challenge to the rule of law in decades”.
In a position paper released on Wednesday, 10 November, LIV outlined 32 recommendations that it hoped Parliament would add into the legislation. Key requests included an accessible external merits review of all decisions relating to detention and to provide the Civil and Administrative Tribunal with the jurisdiction.
LIV asked that the bill should not include terms of imprisonment, that the privilege against self-incrimination should not be abrogated, and said there need to be stricter controls on the use of information gathered for public health purposes to protect privacy.
Although the LIV welcomed proposed amendments to the legislation, it maintains that more needs to be done: “The amendments announced earlier this week are a step in the right direction, but now we can take more time to ensure the bill that will be passed through Parliament meets the needs of the community.
“We encourage members of Parliament to use this opportunity to make the bill fit for purpose, not just for now, but the future, for the benefit of all Victorians.”
Naomi Neilson
Naomi Neilson is a senior journalist with a focus on court reporting for Lawyers Weekly.
You can email Naomi at:
