Warren Entsch (Leichhardt, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Yesterday, more than 300 people turned out for the Safer Families, Better Communities walk on the Cairns Esplanade. It was a very public statement that Cairns has zero tolerance for domestic and family violence.

I commend the tireless efforts of Amanda Lee-Ross, head of the Cairns Regional Domestic Violence Service, who is doing fantastic work in our region. As Amanda said, we must work together as a community to be effective on this issue. It is about reporting violence when we know it is happening—not just waiting for the victim to do it. We also need to make sure that front-line services are properly resourced so that they can deal with the influx of people needing assistance. Amanda said that in the last 12 months they have had a 13 per cent jump in people coming to their office and a 26 per cent jump in referrals from police. Worryingly, today's Cairns Post reports that every bed for victims of domestic violence was full, in Cairns, on Friday night.

I am very pleased with the government's $100 million support package, although I recognise it will take a little time for the benefits to flow through to front-line services. Every woman and child in Australia has the right to feel safe and to live without fear, and I congratulate the Cairns community for taking a stand. It is important that when we make statements in relation to family and domestic violence they are on zero tolerance. It is an absolute plague on our community.

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