Protesters opposing the Victorian Government's proposed pandemic bill have slept on the steps of the State Parliament for a second night despite last-minute changes to the legislation.
While thousands of people chanted and demonstrated from about 8pm last night.
Key crossbench MPs Fiona Patten, Andy Meddick and Samantha Ratnam backed the seven crucial amendments, The Age reports.
Fines for breaching public health orders will be halved and the timeframe to release the reasons behind pandemic decisions reduced under the amendments proposed by the Labor government.
In a joint statement, the three MPs said the amendments reflected community concerns.
But the changes have not gone far enough for the protesters who were still chanting 'kill the bill' this morning and vowed to continue demonstrating.
"People do not want this bill to happen," a protester told 9News.
"If it happens here in Melbourne, it is going to happen all around the country. And every other state is willing the Melbourne people to fight this."
Opposition Leader Matthew Guy told Today the focus needed to be on recovery - not enabling more lockdowns.
"We have been through the longest lockdowns in the world so we need to be getting out of COVID, the government passing more legislation to enable lockdowns doesn't give anyone confidence," he said.
"Apart from the fact they propose arbitrary detention, which is stunningly surprising to anyone who believes in democracy, we should be focusing on recovery, on rebuilding Melbourne.
"I want to see our city recover - not more lockdowns."
The Public Health and Wellbeing Amendment (pandemic management) Bill 2021 passed through the lower house in October and a vote in the upper house is expected this week.
Victorian Ombudsman Deborah Glass said she welcomed the changes, which were an "improvement", but did not go far enough.
"I think there are provisions in the bill that are an improvement on existing legislation," she said.
"It has certainly improved transparency. It doesn't go far enough."
Ms Glass agreed that the main criticism - which had been raised by the Victorian Bar - is the proposed legislation did not have enough oversight.
But she believed it was "necessary to bring in a bill of this sort".
"There needs to be a greater level of independent oversight and independent review," she said.
"We haven't yet seen that."
Thousands of protesters marched through the CBD at the weekend also opposing the proposed legislation.
A number of politicians attended the protests, with former Liberal MP Craig Kelly - who is now part of Clive Palmer's United Australia Party - addressing the crowd.
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2021-11-15 21:54:09Z
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