Parliament

My adjournment is to the Minister for Roads and Road Safety. I ask the minister to facilitate a meeting between her office, the Department of Transport and Planning (DTP) and local stakeholders to discuss traffic safety concerns in Thornbury raised through a parliamentary petition.

Deputy Speaker, last week Victorians watched the Four Corners investigation and heard allegations that were incredibly shocking.

Women seeking care for endometriosis, instead describing profound betrayal.  

These are women living with debilitating pain - seeking answers, relief, and the chance to reclaim their lives.

They placed their trust in someone to help them heal. Instead, they describe a profound misuse of power, mistreatment, and lifelong harm.

Most of us cannot fathom the depth of their anguish, nor the enormity of their courage in speaking out.

how will Victoria’s new violence reduction unit work with communities such as Northcote to prevent youth violence before it starts and deliver safer, stronger futures for local families?

I am also really proud to be standing up in support of this bill which recognises a pretty simple truth – that is, that when a child is at risk responsibility does not neatly fit into one department or one portfolio.

Decisions made in housing, health, education, justice and transport shape the lives of vulnerable children every day, and when those systems are not aligned, families feel the gaps and children pay the price. This bill looks to close those gaps by making supporting vulnerable children and families a shared responsibility across the Victorian government.

My adjournment is to the Minister for Education. I ask the minister to provide me with an update on what the Allan Labor government is doing to combat antisemitism through the education system. This week we rose to express our deep condolences to the victims of the antisemitic attack in Bondi, to their families and to the Jewish community across Australia

I am really pleased to rise to speak on the Health Safeguards for People Born with Variations in Sex Characteristics Bill 2025. As the title suggests, the bill relates to people who are born with physical sex characteristics that do not fit typical definitions or understandings of male or female bodies. These variations are a natural part of human diversity and occur in up to 1.7 per cent of all births.

How will families in Northcote benefit from the Allan Labor government’s reforms to enable trained GPs to diagnose and treat ADHD in children and adults?

James Tsindos was 17 years old when he unknowingly ate food containing cashews and died in hospital from anaphylaxis.

His loss shattered his family, his friends, and the broader community who loved him.

In the aftermath, James’s parents Harry and Veneta, have sought answers.

And through their grief have worked to raise awareness about food allergies - which now impact around 1 in 10 babies, 1 in 20 teens and 1 in 50 adults in Australia.

I rise to speak in strong support of the Restricting Non-Disclosure Agreements (Sexual Harassment at Work) Bill 2025.

This Bill is about addressing a power imbalance and putting the voices of victim-survivors first. It is about giving people back agency and choice after experiences that took both away. It is about breaking down a culture that has, for too long, silenced those who have been harmed in order to protect those who caused that harm.

My adjournment is for the Minister for Housing, and the action I seek is that the Minister join me in Northcote to officially open the new social homes our Labor Government has built at Walker Street.

This project is a powerful example of what good government looks like in the midst of a housing crisis. For too long, the old public housing estate at Walker Street stood in poor condition - buildings more than fifty years old, cold in winter and sweltering in summer, with no proper heating, cooling or disability access.

My question is to the Minister for Energy and Resources.

How many households in the Northcote Electorate have applied for the Allan Labor Government’s latest Power Saving Bonus?

I rise in support of the amendment proposed by the member for Kew, who has worked in very close collaboration with the member for Monbulk to put this forward. In essence, it gives consideration to the risks around allowing broader AHPRA-registered health practitioners to initiate conversations about voluntary assisted dying, as opposed to medical specialists and nurse practitioners, owing to the differentials in experience and setting in which those two cohorts operate.

My adjournment is to the Minister for Planning.

I ask the Minister to explain how community feedback on the draft planning maps for the Thornbury train and tram zone will inform the final maps, to better reflect the nuance and context of the local area.

Thornbury is one of Melbourne’s most distinctive inner-north communities – where trains, trams, cafés and creativity meet.

Speaker, when I was first elected to this Parliament, I came with some priorities.

One of those priorities was to be a voice for real action on climate change: to work within a government to advance our efforts towards clean energy, a circular economy, and critically – strong environmental protections.

It’s something felt deeply within my community of the inner north – and an ethos I’ve grown up with as a lifetime local.

My question is to the Minister for Victims: How is the Victorian Government assisting victims of crime to recover financially from offences committed against them?

Speaker, I acknowledge Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nations as the Traditional Owners of the lands on which we meet and on which the Northcote Electorate is encompassed.

I pay my deep respects to their Elders past and present; to their culture and connection to the lands and waters; to their strength, resilience and enduring spirit.

Deputy Speaker, it’s been busy in Northcote!

At Bracken Creek I joined the Merri Creek Management Committee and Friends of Bracken Creek, where fourteen of us collected 40 kilograms of litter in just a couple of hours. Hands-on, environmental care that makes a real difference of our local waterways.

Speaker, I am pleased to rise to speak on the Domestic Animal Amendment (Rehoming Cats and Dogs and other Matters) Bill 2025.

This is a bill about cats and dogs, but really, it is about the bonds that shape our lives. It’s about muddy paw prints on a freshly mopped floor, the jingle of a collar as a dog bounds to the door, the soft weight of a cat curled up beside you after a long day.

My question is to the Minister for Health. How is the new Victorian Virtual Women’s Health Clinic supporting women and girls in the Northcote electorate?

The Allan Labor Government is transforming women’s health and this virtual clinic is part of a huge suite of new services we’re opening to make sure that wherever you live, you can access free, expert advice, treatment and care.

Speaker, in the inner north and across Victoria, First Peoples are making history. 

On Saturday, the Fitzroy Stars won their first men’s senior premiership since 1990!  

It was Eddie Betts, best on ground with four goals. It was Allan Norris in his 200th game. It was Lionel Proctor finishing a lifetime of service with a premiership medal. And it was Coach Neville Jetta and Captain Kain Proctor leading their side to glory! 

Speaker, my question is to the Minister for Public and Active Transport. 

What evaluation measures will the Department of Transport and Planning use in forming its advice on proposed restrictions for e-bikes and e-scooters on public transport? 

I rise to speak in support of the 2025–26 Labor state budget.

I want to congratulate the Holy Monastery of Axion Estin for the incredible Northcote festival they hosted this Sunday, which I attended.

Deputy Speaker last week I had the absolute delight of attending the Parkside Junior Football Club’s Volunteers Night at Pitcher Park in Alphington.

It was a fantastic evening reflecting on the year and awarding the many people who make the club such a vibrant part of our community.

I am speaking in strong support of the Crimes Amendment (Performance Crime) Bill 2025, and I thank the Attorney-General for her extensive work on this and for bringing it to the chamber. Keeping people safe is the first duty of a civil society and the first priority of us as legislators. One of the challenges that faces us in the modern world is that harm has become more complex, leveraging online platforms in a way and at a scale not seen before.

Deputy Speaker, right across Northcote, our incredible local schools, organisations and clubs have been making use of funding opportunities from our Labor Government.

My adjournment is for the Minister for Planning, and I ask the minister to meet with me to discuss how the Victorian government’s planning and regulatory frameworks can better support community protections and compliance during the construction phase of major developments.

How is the Victorian government supporting schools in my electorate to not only listen to student perspectives but embed student voices in school decisions and curriculum design?

Deputy Speaker, in 2023 I fought alongside my community to protect our not-for-profit kinders from privatisation and closure being imposed on them by the Greens Councillors at Darebin.

My question is to the Minister for Environment. Can the minister advise how the Victorian government supports the role of community-based environmental stewards like the Darebin Creek Management Committee in caring for public land?