Julie Owens (Parramatta, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Last Wednesday a purple bench appeared on the verandah outside the Harris Park Community Centre. It's part of the purple bench project, which is part of an international project, 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence. The project honours the memory of people murdered by their partner or family by creating awareness and starting a conversation about the issue of domestic violence in Australia. The bench will be a feature at the front of the community centre, with information flyers, and a second bench will appear in various parts of Parramatta, in restaurants and retail outlets, to remind us that at least one woman every week is murdered by a partner in Australia—one a week.

I'd like to acknowledge the large number of people who were involved in this project. Stella Zikpi, a social work student from the Western Sydney University, painted the benches and did a great job. It really is an amazing colour. The Harris Park Community Centre manager and white ribbon ambassador, Patrick Soosay, who says he wants to shine a light on domestic violence—in particular, on dowry abuse—has been behind this project from the start. Dowry abuse advocate, Kittu Randhawa, the founder of the Indian (Sub-Continent) Crisis and Support Agency, has been working alongside the community on their upcoming projects. Finally, Nikhil Seth helped create the program and is working on a range of new ones. Well done Harris Park Community Centre.

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