Kerrynne Liddle (SA, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Child Protection and the Prevention of Family Violence) Share this | Hansard source

'Repeat, repeat, repeat. Not response. Lacklustre. Underwhelming.' That was my response to reading and listening to the budget, and the sector is already saying the same thing. The budget failed to tackle inflation, and it will fail to tackle the key contributors to the domestic and family violence crisis. I have talked to nearly 100 representatives from the sector in the last few months. The sector has said that the intensity of violence is increasing and that key contributors are financial and household stress, drug and alcohol misuse, and recidivism of perpetrators.

It was disappointing not to hear a mention of children in the Treasurer's speech. Children impacted by domestic and family violence are often silent victims—just like those people impacted by the removal of the cashless debit card. I've been to those communities. I didn't drop into Alice Springs on a Monday and Tuesday when there are no takeaway alcohol sales and then tell Australia, 'It's pretty quiet, to be frank,' as I cruised around with my security detail and the entourage—not being taken to the places that were critical to fixing the mess that was left behind as a consequence of the removal of those alcohol restrictions. I'm aware of the long delay it took you to put pressure on your Territory colleagues, and now the Australian taxpayer is paying for it. Of course we welcome the billion-dollar increase for the national housing infrastructure fund to better support women and children escaping violence, but that's in the future. They need some help now. We know you don't deliver on your promises, and we know that there are people affected by it. It's a big fail.