David Pocock (ACT, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

I would like to again congratulate the government on the new National Plan to End Violence Against Women and Children and I acknowledge the work of the former government on this too. I thank the many members of this Senate who have worked tirelessly on this.

One in six women in Australia have experienced physical and/or sexual violence. The elimination of violence against women and children before 2032 is a bold plan. This work and this cultural change is clearly urgent. The target is very ambitious, and the achievement of this target is contingent on a cultural shift, a mindset shift, amongst Australians. This shift requires individuals, families and communities across Australia to challenge much of our ingrained patriarchal thinking that normalises male domination and power. It requires us to rethink the normalcy of violent actions which are so prevalent in our modern society. This is uncomfortable and challenging work, but we all stand to gain from this. It's an uncomfortable thing to challenge our ingrained attitudes—things that we learn growing up and just take as the way things are. Cultural change is hard, but it can be done.

We have heard much about toxic masculinity. I have a concern that this is not often the most helpful way to talk about it to drive change. As the late author bell hooks put it:

The crisis facing men is not the crisis of masculinity, it is the crisis of patriarchal masculinity. Until we make this distinction clear, men will continue to fear that any critique of patriarchy represents a threat.

Clearly, this is something we need to be able to talk about more as men. Violence against women needs to become a men's issue. We all need to stand up on this issue, and we all stand to gain as we are part of this shift in thinking and our culture. Clearly, this is up to all of us, not just women. We need men to stand up and speak out, to call out sexism, to have the difficult conversations with our friends in our peer groups about the things that we've learnt—about what it means to be a man and to allow ourselves to be vulnerable, to seek help and support when we need it, rather than believing that to be a man is to be tough and not show weakness. This shift needs to come from every person in Australia, regardless of gender and age. We all have a role to play.

Now is a fitting time to be talking about this, ahead of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women tomorrow. I'd like to note that, to mark this day, the Zonta Club of Canberra will be lighting Canberra orange. This is something Zonta do each year as part of their 16 days of activism to keep raising attention to this matter. The Malcolm Fraser Bridge will glow, so too will each of our light-rail stops, the National Carillon and, importantly, this building, which is a focal point of both Canberra and the nation, in recognition of the decisions that get made here on behalf of Australians.

I hope that this small gesture at Parliament House, supporting Zonta and their efforts, goes some way to highlighting the support and the work that is being done across parliament to further this issue. I invite senators who will be in Canberra tomorrow night to come and speak with Zonta at 7.30, just after the sun sets, out the front of Parliament House. For those who can't make it, we all have a role to play in this: start to have those conversations; start to speak to loved ones and to friends about how we shift this. It is an ambitious plan. It is a worthy goal. It is something that is possible. There are so many people who have dedicated their lives and are working tirelessly to make this happen.

Just to finish, I want to give a shout out to some of our local organisations who are working on the front line here in the ACT dealing with the impacts of domestic and family violence every day. That includes the YWCA, the DVCS, and the Beryl and Doris women's refuges. Thank you for all you do for our community.