MELBOURNE — Australia’s Fiona Patten, the first former sex worker and adult industry lobbyist to be elected to a western democratic parliament anywhere in the world, will be visiting the U.S. next month in her first trip as a politician.
Patten, a member of the Australian Parliament under the Sex Party, will be in the U.S. from Jan. 11-26, engaging with Californian politicians as well as adult industry representatives.
She also will attend XBIZ 2016, Jan. 12-15, and sit on a panel at the convention’s seminar on legal issues and the adult entertainment industry.
Patten, through a representative, indicated to XBIZ that she has numerous viewpoints that she intends on sharing with California lawmakers, including those on prostitution and adult services.
“She wants to show Americans that when it comes to prostitution laws, Australia’s regulatory regimes have much better outcomes for public health and sex workers,” the rep said.
In addition, Patten wants to update legislators about the extent of child sex abuse scandals in the Australian churches and her initiative to make organized religious groups pay their share of taxes. She also seeks to discuss other topic such as “dying with dignity” initiatives and drug law reform.
After one year on the job as an independent Member of the Legislative Council of Victoria, her work has been “unprecedented,” according to the rep.
“Normally, an independent member of the state ‘Senate’ does not have any real power to introduce or pass legislation,” he said. “However, using careful strategies and forging strong alliances with other parties she has managed to enact legislation to keep abortion protestors 150 meters from an abortion clinic; initiated a parliamentary committee to investigate dying with dignity; initiated a parliamentary committee to examine the regulation of illicit drugs; amended the state laws on child porn; and introduced moves to legalize X-rated adult films.
The rep noted that, with flying colors of her work, the political editor of the Sunday Age “resoundingly endorsed” Fiona’s first term. The Sunday Age article can be read here.
