Tim Watts (Gellibrand, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Before I begin my remarks on this matter of public importance, I would like to say that this debate today has been parliament at its best. I thank all members for supporting this motion today, and I particularly thank the members who have contributed. I have worked with the member for Mallee and the member for Hasluck over some time on this issue, and I know how seriously they and all members of this parliament take this issue.

Last April, a woman was murdered in my electorate in the most horrific and public circumstances. It was a wake-up call for me. It forced me to confront the reality of family violence in all of our communities. I am ashamed to say that before this murder I was unaware of the prevalence of this issue in our community. I did not know that one in five of the women around me, the women in our society, have experienced violence from a current or former partner. I did not know that 17,000 family violence intervention orders were issued in Victoria, alone, last year. I did not know that last year around one woman a week was killed by their current or former partner in Australia—a figure that has tragically grown to two a week this year.

Thanks to decades of hard work from advocates and service providers, more and more people in our community and more and more MPs are becoming aware of this issue and demanding action. More people are learning about this issue in the way that I have over the past 12 months. Indeed, in January, we made family violence campaigner Rosie Batty Australian of the Year, not for what her ex-partner did, but for what she has done over the past 12 months as a powerful, articulate advocate in our community. On Monday, Rosie Batty and the foundation Our Watch addressed members of Parliamentarians against Family Violence Friendship Group in Parliament House. Around 50 MPs from all sides of politics—many of whom, I know, are in the room at the moment—came to hear her speak and stayed for an hour. She left us with a message. She asked us, 'What will we do in response to this issue?' I know how much shared goodwill there is on this issue on all sides of this House. We all know that the status quo is unacceptable, and we all know broadly what needs to be done. So, I say to members: let's do it, let's do it together, now.

Today, Labor invited the Prime Minister to convene a national crisis summit on this issue and get to work on ending family violence across Australia. It is a genuine offer, and I hope the Prime Minister takes it up. I welcomed his comments during question time, today, on this. We have said that, if the PM does not take up this offer, we will act on this summit within 100 days of the election of a Labor government. We have said that we will work with state and territory leaders to end the uneven response to family violence across the country—uneven even within states let alone between states.

We have said that we will invite service providers and survivors of family violence to work with the leaders at the summit and to hold them to account. And we have said that we will support a $70 million interim package to ensure that those suffering from family violence can access critical services, to ensure that no woman is forced to confront our legal system alone to ask for protection for herself and her children. That is, tragically, something that happens all across our country every day of the year. Lawyers are often a maligned group, often for good reason, but in this respect they truly do God's work.

Why do we need a national crisis summit? Because two women a week are being killed. This is a national crisis. It is an issue that should be bigger than just another agenda item that we consider regularly at COAG. We need a national crisis summit to ensure that decision makers around the country are held accountable for their actions and their commitment in this space, and to ensure that they honour the work of front-line providers. We need a national crisis summit to ensure that our response to family violence is joined up and tackles the causes of this violence, not only the consequences.

Labor believes in an Australia where every woman can be safe in her own home and where police, courts and governments protect this right. Women and children should only be forced to leave their homes in the most extreme circumstances. Our starting point needs to be an agreement on a national Safe at Home program, something that would be instrumental in assisting women and children to remain safely in their homes. A national Safe at Home program would ensure that there are effective policing, justice and support services to keep women safe where they currently live. At the same time, we need to build the capacity of our judicial system to deal with family violence, strengthen the operation of our legal system and improve police responses.

Finally, and most importantly, we need to change the attitudes and behaviours that enable violence against women. We need to reflect on our own behaviour and ask ourselves hard questions about what we are doing to break down gender inequality in our society. Make no mistake: the heart of this issue is gender inequality.

We do not need to wait for a change of government to take action on any of these issues. I know the goodwill of those opposite is strong. We know what needs to be done. Let's get on and do it.

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