ABC News: Dylan Anderson
)Victoria's state of emergency will be extended for another nine months, after the state government secured crucial crossbench votes in the Upper House.
The government has won the support of the Greens, Reason Party and Animal Justice Party, to extend the powers until the middle of December.
The laws, which give the Chief Health Officer wide-ranging powers to enforce public health orders including hotel quarantine and mask wearing, passed the Upper House late yesterday.
The bill had already passed the Lower House.
The government has agreed to halve the penalties for young people who are fined for COVID-19 breaches, and change the appeals processes for people with detention orders.
A key recommendation from the Victorian Ombudsman report into the lockdown of Melbourne's public housing towers included allowing a person subject to a detention order to apply to the Chief Health Officer and VCAT for a review of the decision.
Both amendments arose out of negotiations with Victorian Greens leader Samantha Ratnam and Reason Party leader Fiona Patten.
ABC News: Stephanie Anderson
)Ms Ratnam said the Greens had secured a commitment that specific legislation for managing COVID-19 would be developed in nine months' time, to replace the current state of emergency powers.
"While COVID is still a risk in the community we must continue to keep people safe, but that shouldn't come at the expense of people's democratic rights and rights to social justice," she said.
She said the new laws would mean this would be the last time a state of emergency was used in Victoria for coronavirus.
Reason Party MP Fiona Patten said the new laws would keep Victorians safe and keep the state open.
"We have been able to support the bill, with the assurance the government will establish specific COVID legislation — this is what we called for in October."
The leader of the opposition in the Upper House, David Davis, said the government had been provided with a "blank cheque", with "unbridled power until Christmas".
"This looks like a sell-out," Mr Davis said.
"This appears to be a deal where the government has got no serious checks on powers."
The state of emergency laws were due to expire on March 16 and will be extended until December 16.
Victoria has been under a continuous state of emergency since March last year.
