Ed Husic (Chifley, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary to the Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

The issue of domestic violence sparks in me a deep anger, an anger that people who are vulnerable are forced to witness or endure the impact of domestic violence. I think of the statistics that say that children who witness domestic violence are more likely to perpetrate that violence themselves when they become adults. But then I think anger does not cut it. Anger is the wrong emotion to feel in this instance. It is misplaced. It is the worst emotion to feel. What is needed—and I am told this quite often when I speak to people who are at the front-line in dealing with domestic violence—is that we need to focus on the issue, that we need to talk about the issue and that we cannot sweep the issue under the carpet. That is why, when we have the call that the Leader of the Opposition has made, as Labor has called for a domestic violence summit, this is critical to focus the nation on the need to act as one. There are many people in this place who rightly feel, regardless of political colour, that we should get the nation focused on this and dedicate work to it. We should be dedicating work to the safe as houses grants. We should be dedicating more to front-line services. We should be mapping perpetrator action so we can avoid domestic violence. We should be acting as one to ensure that the vulnerable, the children, are not affected any further by domestic violence.

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