Andrew Broad (Mallee, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

One day a lady came to see me in my office in Swan Hill. She told me she wanted to see me about child care. Instead, when the door was shut, she explained that she was having to flee an abusive husband and was the victim of family violence, and that is where my involvement in the issue of family violence became very relevant to the people of Mallee. I want to talk about two high-profile cases that have recently taken place in Mallee and outline how the Australian judiciary is drastically letting our women down.

One of those cases involved Nick Stevens, a former AFL champion, who was appointed as a senior coach in a town. I took a stance against this. At the time he was appealing an eight-month jail sentence for beating up his former partner. He rang me on my mobile phone and explained to me who his lawyers were and that I shouldn't say anything—but I have the beauty of parliamentary privilege in this place. He largely threatened me and then he proceeded to tell me how it was all her fault and how nothing actually happened. He was appealing an eight-month jail sentence. At the very last minute he pleaded guilty and was given a three-month jail sentence. He served 12 weeks and is now back in our community. Our community is upset about that.

Recently, this last week, we had the handing down of a sentence in the case of a young 31-year-old lady who worked for the Mildura council. Her partner purchased a handgun for $3,000. He was a person prohibited from owning a handgun, so he clearly broke the law. In the house, her house, he loaded the handgun and then the handgun was discharged by him holding the handgun to her head. She was killed. Our community is astounded that he was able to get a manslaughter charge, and, as a result of that, he will get six years jail—six years jail!

So here we have a situation where a football star can make a plea bargain as an offender and get out of it with three months and we have a situation where an upstanding woman in our community, who was actually a white ribbon advocate, can get shot in her own home by an illegal handgun that was purchased several weeks earlier and the guy will be out in five years. The judge made the comment that it was extremely reckless, dangerous and profoundly stupid to place the loaded handgun against her forehead and that cocking it and pulling the trigger were acts of violence. Well, no shit, Sherlock!

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