Lisa Chesters (Bendigo, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Let's just be really honest about what matters of public importance are. They are an opportunity for people to try and make a political point. It's the end of the day. It's the end of the week. It's quite often a tool the opposition will use to try and make a political point. It isn't about serious policy. It isn't about talking with stakeholders. This time hasn't been used to really engage in matters.

If those opposite were really serious about this issue, more of them would have attended the Parliamentary Friends Group of Ending Violence Against Women and Children on Monday night. An event was held in this place. The member for Bass attended—the only one of their side that attended. At that event we heard from the people who are the front line. We heard from the workers, the clinicians, the people who are working in rape crisis centres; and the people who are working as cultural practitioners, including here in Canberra. They shared the statistics and their thoughts on how we go forward. It's alarming. Victims are getting younger. Regardless of their background, regardless of postcode, we do have a problem in this country on this issue.

But discussing it in this political way, as the last order of business on a Thursday, is not the way to go about it, if those opposite were genuine about tackling this issue. It was also in this forum that Paula, a cultural practitioner, said she didn't want a royal commission into this issue. She thought it could make things worse and make it harder for people to disclose. When they're working so hard to build relationships, cultural understanding and support and encouraging victims to come forward in the most difficult of circumstances, she said that this could have the exact opposite effect.

What she and all the other workers we met with on Monday night said was: 'We need funding. We need resourcing. We need the practical decisions and the support that the government is already undertaking.' They thanked us for the steps that we were taking and called for more. They recognised and acknowledged the National Strategy to Prevent and Respond to Child Sexual Abuse 2021-2030—the report that we are enacting. They recognised the extra resources that are going into the NT. They recognised the partnership and the collaborations and the early discussions that are going on between the federal government and state governments, who are the partners with us in delivering this. They recognised the bold strategy and plan and commitment of this government to end violence against women and children in a generation. That's what this side said. That's what our government said. That is what our Minister for Social Services said in a statement delivered to this place not in a politically charged MPI days after a national referendum on the Voice. No, it was at the appropriate time with the arm of government. That is what our side is doing.

I do want to take a moment to acknowledge the extraordinary workers that we have in this sector—the frontline workers, the law enforcement officers, the police, the nurses that respond to incidences—for the work that they do and the care that they have. I want to acknowledge the social workers and the support workers, who don't get paid a fortune to do what they do but do it for care and respect for their community and their dedication to what they do.

I also want to acknowledge all the people who might be listening or might find this debate triggering. I'm sorry for that. I'm sorry that this may be triggering, particularly for those of you who are in our First Nations communities and are already struggling this week. I see you and I hear you. I'm sorry that this place didn't take a moment to pause and reflect on where you might be this week before bringing on this political debate. This is a serious issue, and everybody in this place takes this issue seriously. I encourage all of those still to participate in this debate to think about the language that you use and the accusations that you throw around, because the people who are engaged in the day-to-day front line, who are helping people pick up the pieces and get the justice they deserve, do not stand with you on this one.

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