MEMBER for Mildura Ali Cupper says she has been “gaslit” and “misrepresented by everybody” throughout her negotiations to gain concessions for regional Victoria within the State Government’s proposed nine-month state of emergency extension.
Ms Cupper and her Reason Party colleague Fiona Patten believed they had gained confirmation from the Labor Government that concessions for the regions in the future framework for managing the pandemic would be implemented before the Bill was voted on in the Upper House this week.
On the basis that the legislation was “nuanced, that has the right risk measures and calculations in it”, Ms Patten supported the extension, telling State Parliament that people in the Mallee could not understand why they had been included in a five-day lockdown under stage 4 restrictions last month.
Ms Patten said the government had confirmed there would be “some very specific regulations and information” about how regional areas were dealt with under the amendments.
But Health Minister Martin Foley on Wednesday stopped short of acknowledging any commitment to regional areas for concessions within the legislation.
Mr Foley said the government was unable to agree to the Reason Party’s proposed traffic-light system for how any public health and wellbeing restrictions were placed proportionately across regional Victoria.
“That proposal wasn’t worked up sufficiently enough,” he said.
“Let’s be clear: no commitment was given, even though a commitment was sought by the Reason Party.”
Ms Cupper said the denial came just a day after she had been told there would be concessions for the regions.
The Mildura MP late on Thursday voted against the amended Bill, minus regional concessions, in the Lower House.
Changes to the legislation included a reduction in fines for young people, a review of fines for disadvantaged communities, an appeal process for detention orders and the right for people to protest.
The legislation was passed by the Lower House.
Before the vote, Ms Cupper told parliament that claims by “the big parties” that she was trying to get regional Victoria permanently excluded from COVID-19 restrictions were incorrect.
“When I am trying to negotiate constructively with the government in good faith to get some reassurance for the regions on the state of emergency, I am gaslit and I am misrepresented by everybody,” Ms Cupper said.
“The big parties are spending time and money on deeply unfair and misleading and probably defamatory smear campaigns against me.
“While I am using my time and my electorate’s resources trying to get a new hospital, the big parties are spending tens of thousands of dollars on letterboxing blatant misinformation — and it is personal, and it is sexist — using awful photos to portray me as ugly and using sexualised language to humiliate my colleague Fiona Patten.
“The lies and the distortions feel beyond usual just politicking and political nitpicking.
“They are getting worse — they are breathtaking, and so is the hypocrisy.”
