Emma Husar (Lindsay, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

cutting penalty rates, ripping money away from vulnerable people and forcing two-thirds of Indigenous childcare centres to close their doors, and then debating the less pressing issue of 18C on behalf of One Nation rather than debating what is important for the nation. They do this all the while trying to push through big business tax cuts that will hand billions of dollars straight to the big four banks.

And I can hear people on the other side interjecting. I am wondering if they are going to continue that all the way through, especially when I get to the next bit.

Government members interjecting—

Which is your fault.

These priorities are wrong and these priorities are hurting my community. The issue of domestic violence in my community is the second highest in the New South Wales metropolitan area. We have a situation where the O'Farrell-Baird-Berejiklian government have brought in reforms that have devastated the women's sector and forced many refuges to close, including in my own electorate. With the statistics that we have, I am not sure why we would be closing these services. And I hear the bollocks on the other side has now ceased.

These cuts are a result of the federal Liberals walking away from the national partnership agreement on homelessness. We have a situation where long-term services that have operated within communities with local workers were forced to tender for continued funding in a process that was unfair and in a process that led to religious organisations taking over or refuges simply closing down. We have seen the disgraceful reluctance by the New South Wales Liberal government and the local MP Stuart Ayres to properly fund the services that did manage to survive the unfair process, including Penrith Women's Health Centre, which was last year returned some of the money. However, it was not given any long-term security over their funding future. As a result of these cuts by those out-of-touch Liberals, women are being turned away because these shelters simply do not have the beds and resources they require to operate.

In my community, we have only two women's shelters. I want to take this opportunity to recognise the great work that West Connect Domestic Violence Services do. They run our secular refuge and they offer specialised support services to women and children who most need it. Their work makes a difference, unlike the work of this government. Their work makes a difference to only, though, one of their shelters. Sadly, for my community, the reckless abandonment in this space of the Liberals has meant that the second shelter cannot open and has been unfunded and closed since December 2016. The rates in which desperate women are turned away from crisis accommodation in one month alone in my community were 56 women and 95 desperate children. Meanwhile, this government stands by this 16-bed refuge closure in my community. It is now closed. It does not offer those 16 beds to any woman on any night.

Where has the local Liberal member for Penrith, Stuart Ayres, been? He has been missing in action; not a sight to be seen. Our community has been let down. Our vulnerable women and children have been let down by this government and by the local member. They refused to stand up and support and deliver on these vital services for our community. The statistics around Penrith speak for themselves. Our desperate need for these services is obvious. So I call on the New South Wales government and on the member for Penrith, Stuart Ayres, to start paying attention. I am calling on them to support West Connect Domestic Violence Services and help them deliver the vital programs and support services that they offer to some of the most vulnerable people in my community.

This issue is not going to go away. More and more people are looking at the situation that we face at the moment and are saying enough is enough. And they are looking to the government to do more. I know that the people in my community are desperate to see our vulnerable women and children supported and kept safe. They are willing to do whatever they can to make it happen. So, again, I call on the government and the member for Penrith, Stuart Ayres, to make this a reality and refund this service to stop the cuts and to support local women's refuges and women's services, and to make sure they have the resources they need to protect our vulnerable women. While we are at it, we might as well raise the issue of community legal services, which are also facing a funding cliff at the end of this financial year with absolutely no certainty to support or protect these women.

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