Rex Patrick (SA, Centre Alliance) Share this | Hansard source

The shocking murder last week of Hannah Clarke and her three lovely children is the latest tragedy in an all-too-often repeated horror across our nation. As a father of two daughters, my heartfelt desire is that they are able to contribute and thrive in a society that values their opinion and provides them the opportunity to live free from harm, fear and retribution. I want my daughters—and all daughters and all Australian women—to always be safe in their home and as they go about their daily lives.

While the motion for debate today focuses on questions of Commonwealth funding—and that is a very important part of the picture—I think it's true to say that successive governments and, indeed, our political processes as a whole have failed to deal with this horrific issue. There have already been many inquiries and reports: the Victorian royal commission, two inquiries undertaken by the Senate Finance and Public Administration References Committee and a recent Auditor-General's report on the implementation of the National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children. Yet nothing much has changed. The national rates of serious crime, murder and assaults are falling, but the rate of family violence is, sadly, static. Things are not getting any better. On average, one Australian woman is killed by an intimate partner each week. Hannah Clarke was the eighth woman murdered by her former partner in Australia this year. Australian police deal with 5,000 domestic violence matters on average every week. That's one every two minutes, and 20 since this debate commenced.

Cuts in funding of frontline social welfare and support services definitely haven't helped, but they are only a small part of a complex picture. Moreover, against a backdrop of terrible tragedy and hurt, there is no merit in partisan argument and finger-pointing. What we do need right now is collective action across the Australian parliament to pressure governments—federal, state and territory—to tackle this issue in ways that really will make a difference.

To that end, I am proposing an urgent inquiry by the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs References Committee into family violence, especially violence against women and their children. The focus of the inquiry will be on action, not endless investigation. We know about the prevalence of domestic violence. We know its causes and it contributing factors. We know its effects on health, we know the impact on children, we know its financial impact and we know the impact on the community. The dimensions of the problem are really clear and we don't need to re-examine that. Rather, we need a process through which senators can directly pressure governments on the steps they need to take and the resources that need to be committed now that will eliminate domestic violence from our Australian society.

We need to look at where we can drive change in government policy, programs and resourcing to improve outcomes. With strong commitment from senators from all sides of politics we can do all of this and more. It is high time that all sides of this parliament and especially all segments of Australian society and indeed most particularly men face up to our collective responsibilities and work for real change.

In closing, I will just make the final observation that there are no male members of the Liberal Party speaking on this today. There are no male members of the Labor Party or, indeed, of the Greens. Madam Acting Deputy President, I just ask you to reflect on that.