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

Family violence, we know, is more prevalent in regional, rural and remote Australia, but it's a problem everywhere and in all communities. In regions like Coffs Harbour family violence has risen 70 per cent, and yet the Albanese government ended a grant to a local family violence service. We'll be seeking answers as to how many other family violence services you have ended funding for and why.

The Albanese government promised 500 frontline workers, but its delivery has fallen woefully short. The Labor guarantee was 352 frontline workers on the ground by the end of June, and they've delivered only 156. The Prime Minister said, in November 2022, he was taking immediate action. That simply isn't true. Family violence has risen nearly 17 per cent in Western Australia and 15 per cent in my home state of South Australia. Tasmania has seen double-digit rises, as has the ACT, with Queensland not far behind.

The Albanese government's long-awaited cashless debit card report confirms impacts were mostly negative. Many of the areas known to fuel family violence are going in the wrong direction. It confirms what locals already knew: alcohol consumption was up, public intoxication was up and alcohol related violence and gambling were up. A comparison of the draft and the published report shows a distortion of the local voices—so much for transparency. On accountability, the latest Closing the gap report has no family violence data. It's missing data on alcohol consumption increase, gambling spend and increases in emergency department presentations. That would be no data on which to know what to do or where to do it.

Family violence is an issue for all Australians, and the evidence should not be misrepresented for any reason, particularly for political purposes. You've failed on all of those things. Your doctoring of the voices of people in the CDC report is disgraceful and dangerous. (Time expired)