Peter Dutton (Dickson, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Hansard source

on indulgence—I want to join in acknowledging the very important comments made by the minister, firstly, in welcoming the students who are here today. A very important part of our process here is to welcome students and to involve them in workings of the parliament. That's very important.

On the substantive issue that the minister raised, there is a bipartisan position of support for all these issues. There is no tolerance in our country whatsoever for violence or discrimination against women, or on the basis of gender, at all. The mental health impacts of COVID and the surge in domestic violence that took place resulted in us putting additional program funding in place. Many of those programs have been continued by the government in this budget, and we commend them for that. We have made comments of support as well for the work to increase participation, and around PPL. On behalf of the coalition, we commend the government for that work within the budget.

I might say to the minister, particularly on the work that needs to take place in Alice Springs, that I was there last week and it is a national tragedy that cannot be allowed to continue. For young women, for young girls and for elders—the women that we spoke to in community were equally horrified as any Australian is. We absolutely stand shoulder to shoulder, and I've spoken with the Prime Minister about what more we can do to address this scourge in society. I'm very pleased to be able to lend support and words of support to the minister's very worthy remarks.

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