Victorian Parliament

In a hotly contested byelection on November 18, Lidia Thorpe became the first indigenous woman to be elected to the Victorian Parliament.

Thorpe, standing for the Greens, won 45% of first preferences. She was trailed by Labor, which has held the seat since it was created 100 years ago, with 35% of first preferences. Thorpe won 56% on a two party preferred vote.

A voluntary euthanasia law has passed in Victoria’s Legislative Assembly after a marathon four-day sitting. The bill passed 47 votes to 37.

The proposed law will now head to the Legislative Council. If it passes there, the bill will allow terminally ill Victorians with less than 12 months to live and who are suffering unbearable pain to access lethal medication to end their lives.

One hundred and twenty young people between the ages of 16 and 25 from around Victoria made their way to Parliament House in the first week of July for the YMCA Youth Parliament program. Spending up to four months preparing their bills, students in 20 teams of six presented and debated the issues most important to them. After debating each bill for an hour, each student was allowed a conscience vote.

The 20 bills presented by the Youth Parliament were mostly progressive responses to social issues, with a quarter having an environmental focus.

When the Victorian Parliament decriminalised abortion two years ago, the battle was finally over, right? Then why is the Fertility Control Clinic in East Melbourne still targeted by anti-abortion zealots? And why, after five years, has Melbourne City Council started harassing clinic defenders, potentially handing a victory to those same zealots?