The Victorian Government must protect our hospital system by curbing the spread of COVID, now that hospital inpatient numbers have hit 550, after a lull in October.

With six consecutive weeks of increases in COVID hospitalisations, we’re clearly in another wave. (thread) The govt must promote masks in crowded indoor spaces including public transport and promote improvements to indoor air quality where people mix, using open windows and air purifiers.

I’m seeing justified concern about the COVID-19 Omnibus (Emergency Measures) etc Bill, but I fear some is misdirected. I’ll try to clear some of that up in this thread, to aid the discussion on how it should be amended. #SpringSt theguardian.com/australia-news… Like most Omnibus bills it’s a varied menu of dubious items alongside necessary and uncontroversial measures which the Victorian government should split into another bill, rather than subjecting parliament to the “no dessert if you don’t eat your veggies” tactic. #SpringSt

I wish Jenny Mikakos all the best for her future. I’m sure she worked hard and to the best of her ability in the health portfolio and in managing the response to the pandemic. #SpringSt (thread) We need to be aware that the farcical collective evasion of responsibility for the viral transmissions sparking the hotel Q outbreak that led to Victoria’s second wave, distracts us from other important failures, which had more to do with bad management than bad luck.

#Greens will amend the Omnibus bill in #SpringSt today, so police, PSOs, security guards are not given power to decide who gets detained under health emergency powers. Currently health officials decide and police enforce. Too much power for one police/PSO to be judge and jailer. People from communities with a poor experience of policing won't want to increase their risk of contact with the police, so this could mean fewer will get tested. Let's not mess with the current health-led response. #SpringSt

The #PAEC inquiry is now being livestreamed by Vic Parliament #SpringSt. Andrews grilled at Vic virus inquiry aap.com.au/andrews-to-be-… You can watch the Premier, Health Minister, CHO and others respond to questions today from Victorian MPs. It's a bit like a prolonged question time with no interjections. All online of course. parliament.vic.gov.au/video-and-audi… #SpringSt #COVID19Vic #PAEC

Uncomfortable truths from @TaniaMaxwell14's motion in the Vic Legislative Council: Victoria's prison population booming, reoffending very high: 43% return to prison within 2 yrs. So corrections system failing to correct. Govt admits changed bail laws contribute. #springst So it's high time we reformed bail laws to correct this. Prisons are bursting at seams with unsentenced prisoners. Accused should get bail unless unacceptable risk to public safety. Govt knows this, so let's not delay bail reform. #SpringSt #Greens

I'm about to speak against this bill to lift the ban on gas drilling in Victoria. Looks like I'll be the only one. Six LNP, one ind and six Labor speakers are speaking in support. #SpringSt #ClimateEmergency #VicGasBan #Greens

https://twitter.com/takvera/status/1267696027810717696

Andrews Govt and LNP speakers trotting out the same arguments:
1. Gas is a transition fuel.
No it's not. Fugitive emissions remove any advantage it had over CO2. This gas is methane, 84 times more potent than CO2 as a greenhouse gas over 20 years.

How did Rudd's emissions trading scheme unravel? #Greens have been a useful scapegoat for a decade, but maybe it's time to retire this argument and retire coal. theconversation.com/its-the-10-yea… #4Corners More insights here crikey.com.au/2019/12/02/lab… and here greens.org.au/cprs #4Corners

In Victoria's COVID inquiry, @Sam_Hibbins asking health minister how many negative pressure isolation rooms in Victoria. Not sure, will get back to us. These rooms very effective in reducing transmission of infection to staff. #SpringSt Now asking how much state govt is paying private hospitals. Long answer but no figure forthcoming.

Gay men should soon be able to donate blood after waiting 3 months rather than 12 months since they last had sex. Red Cross Lifeblood have the go ahead from the TGA and I now encourage state and federal governments to approve this ASAP so it can happen. #SpringSt #auspol Three months is still too long for many potential donors, so we urge Lifeblood to work now on combining the modern very sensitive tests for HIV and hepatitis with screening donors based on individual sexual risk, rather than the gender of their partner. #SpringSt #Auspol

As our hospitals prepare for a COVID-19 surge, doctors tell me they’re worried. Are there enough masks and the best protective gear? What they need to hear now, is that our national priority, is for no healthworker to die from this infection. #auspol
#SpringSt The daily numbers don’t tell us how this virus wreaks havoc on health systems.
It’s like it targets hospitals & clinics, infecting staff, putting them off work, or onto ventilators. In Italy 80 doctors & dentists, & 25 nurses have died: tg24.sky.it/cronaca/2020/0…

Prisons, like cruise ships, squeeze many into a small space. Victoria has more prisoners than ever, many share a cell. Perfect conditions to spread virus. Victoria must release low risk prisoners now, as in NSW, to avoid amplifying COVID-19 epidemic. #SpringSt No hand sanitiser allowed in Victoria's prisons, just soap. They're doing the best they can, but with 8000+prisoners, and seven prisons containing >500, it's hard. Lockdown in prison is punitive. #SpringSt

Victoria’s health minister inadvertently stepped on a minefield yesterday by saying she was flabbergasted a GP worked with upper respiratory symptoms, later found to be #COVIDー19, thread. #SpringSt #auspol #coronavirusaus This highlights a deep flaw in our health system. States and state health ministers have almost nothing to do with primary care. State health departments offer advice and a lot of rules to GPs, but no funding. When a health emergency strikes, the state has limited influence.

Three questions about last week which Victorians want answered:
First, what made the police suddenly switch from their calm response to the #XR sit-ins, to aggressively charging the #IMARCblockade? It wasn’t simply protester behaviour.
#SpringSt 1/4 Second, police violence and white power symbols raise serious concerns about which side these police are on. We’ve seen police racism before: online, deciding who to arrest, neglecting prisoners. Will the state govt call an inquiry into far right influence in the police force?2/4

The Government is right: the trial of the safe injecting room (MSIR) should continue. Richmond had a tragic heroin problem before the MSIR opened. But let’s look at how to improve the situation and listen to the local North Richmond Community. Here's a thread of ideas. #springst We need to improve access to methadone, and similar treatments. It is often hard to find a doctor who will prescribe it – and many patients fall off the wagon because they have to pay a daily pharmacy fee. #SpringSt

Opp leader's 2 questions about use-by dates on washing machines aren't even close to biggest problems in our state's health system. #SpringSt Victorian health system's weak points are dental and mental, outpatient waiting times, lack of consistent electronic record systems.

In a fit of madness, Victoria's upper house just voted for a parliamentary inquiry into nuclear energy, unopposed by the govt, opposed by the #Greens. Still, it may have a solar lining as it's likely to find that nuclear power costs around three times renewable energy. #SpringSt This will only delay the urgent work needed to get Victoria off coal & gas and rapidly reduce our emissions. Sure nuclear has no carbon emissions, but well known risks. Recent nuclear energy projects around the globe have gone billions over budget and years over deadline.

Victorian jails now hold more people than ever before. We are now paying billions for the "law and order auction" waged before state elections. #smartjustice #SpringSt

https://twitter.com/MillarRoyce/status/1144376417972453376

Excellent report by @MillarRoyce and @ChrisVedelago on consequences of making it harder to get bail, congested courts, inadequate prison transport, removal of non-custodial sentencing options, lack of public housing. Prisons are packed with unconvicted prisoners on remand.

Tweeting from Medicinal Cannabis and Psychoactive Plants Research Forum at UniMelb. @DrSuziNielsen on promising preclinical evidence for cannabinoids to reduce opioid use in addiction. But "there isn't the science to support use and there isn't the support to do the science." See the comment from the NHMRC reviewer.

Victoria's Public Health and Wellbeing Bill removes requirements for pre and post test counselling, to streamline #HIV testing and enable home testing. On behalf of the #Greens I spoke in support of the bill, but identified a new challenge in the fight against HIV. Thread. Recently acquired HIV infection (incident cases) are beginning to decline in Victoria, among Australian men who have sex with men, probably due to the preventive efficacy of treatment medication and of PREP (pre exposure prophylaxis).

It's now more important than ever that Victoria leads by example in fighting the #ClimateEmergency. Our likely federal govt will support #coal. We in Victoria must wean ourselves off coal and gas. #SpringSt Victoria can become a renewable energy superpower, but to no avail if we don't address #VictoriasDirtySecret that we burn millions of tonnes of coal & gas each month, heating the world, as we heat our homes. #SpringSt