The Victorian state government has agreed to tinker with its broad-ranging Pandemic Management Bill to win over crossbench MPs and secure safe passage for the proposed law through the state’s Parliament. Seven amendments have been made to the Public Health and Wellbeing Amendment (Pandemic Management) Bill after negotiations with crossbench members from the state’s upper house. The Bill has been criticised heavily by leading legal figures with senior members of the Victorian Bar Association warning the proposed law would allow the government to “rule the state of Victoria by decree.” The government’s crossbench partners, namely MPs from the Greens, Reason Party, and the Animal Justice party claimed that “prominent shock jocks and tabloid commentators” knowingly and “dangerously incited” civil unrest around the risks posed by the Bill. In a statement released on Nov. 16, the crossbenchers outlined several changes including significant reductions in maximum fines—currently set at AU$90,000—for breaching public …