Ms Anna Burke (Chisholm, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I would respond to that but I have got something far more important to talk about. I rise to condemn the government cuts to community legal centres.

Andrew Laming (Bowman, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There is nothing more important than young people getting a job.

Ms Anna Burke (Chisholm, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There is nothing more important than young people getting a job but your government is actually condemning them to unemployment for life.

Domestic violence is the most common cause of homelessness in Australia amongst women and children. It is an issue which accounts for 40 per cent of police time and costs the economy $13.6 billion dollars each year. Community legal centres are on the front line, supporting and fighting for victims of domestic violence. This is the moment in time to deal with domestic violence once and for all.

I want to pay tribute to the Victorian government who are putting it at the forefront of their issues in this round in their first term of government. They are pulling together all the resources and working wholeheartedly to finally end this national disgrace. The $300 million federal cut to community legal services does exactly the opposite; it ensures that thousands of people in desperate need of help simply will not get it; leaving behind more victims, with fewer services.

Chisholm is home to two legal services, Eastern Community Legal Centre and the Monash Oakleigh Legal Service. They do a great job but will struggle in the face of these disgraceful cuts. Domestic violence should already be a thing of the past. We should not still be talking about it. All I have left to ask is how can the Prime Minister take from the most vulnerable and those who need it most? Where is justice in this society?