Sarah Hanson-Young (SA, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Australians are appalled at what they're seeing happening here in Parliament House. Women and men around this country were shocked when they heard the incredibly brave account from Brittany Higgins of her story of being raped in this building, in her workplace, just metres from the Prime Minister's office. Following Brittany's story, the extremely serious allegations that have been made against the Attorney-General, Christian Porter, have rocked the nation. I received the dossier of evidence and the account of the accusations put forward by the woman at the centre, alleging that Christian Porter had raped a 16-year-old girl when he was 17. Tragically, that woman has now taken her own life. Women across Australia have had enough. We've had enough of the violence, enough of the harassment, enough of the excuses and enough of the boys' club.

Yesterday, across Australia, more than 100,000 women and decent men rallied to call for an end to violence against women, an end to harassment, sexism and abuse. The Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, refused to join the rally, refused to come and listen, refused to witness the rally right here on the steps of Parliament House, as thousands of women called to be heard and for action. The Prime Minister has even refused to read the brief of evidence that he too was sent by the friends of the woman who alleges that she was raped by Christian Porter. The Prime Minister has refused to listen to her, to read her own words and to hear her story.

A collective voice is now growing to call out those who refuse to listen, to call out those who refuse to take seriously incidents of sexual harassment, assault and abuse. This collective voice is calling for action, calling for accountability and calling for an independent inquiry into the allegations about whether the Attorney-General is a fit and proper person to hold that position here in the Australian parliament. I've been asked many times in the last two weeks whether I would detail the allegations made by the woman at the centre of the incident she alleged happened at the hands of the Attorney-General. I won't be doing that here tonight, but what I have pledged to do is to put on the record the names of Australians who want to see change, who want to see accountability upheld in the highest offices of this land, by the Attorney-General and, of course, the Prime Minister—names like Karina Natt, Tammy-Jo Sutton, Rebecca Bayliss, Emily Haren, Bonnie Keates, Jasmine Matz, Josie Stockdill, Josie Presch, Aaron Tepe, Aaron Wilson, Abbey Belton, Abbey Brown, Abbi Fenton, Abbie Hay, Abbie Steele, Abdul Aleem, Adam Abdul Razak, Adam Dartnell, Adam Tatana, Adela Brent, Adele Field, Adele Hamlyn, Adele van der Winden, Adriana Garcia, Adrienne Beck, Adrienne Paley, Adrienne Price, Adrienne Woodhouse, Aemelia Hopley, Afra Feeney, Agnes Cusay, Aidan Offe, Aiden Parisi, Aileen Walsh, Ailsa Drent, Ainsley Ewart, Ainslie Ashton, Ainslie Vaka, Alexis Nicholas, Alexis Simmonds, Ali Bowen, Ali Cairns, Ali Jansen, Ali Mitchell, Ali Roush, Alice Goulter, Alice Handsaker—

Jess Walsh (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Hanson-Young, your time has expired.

Sarah Hanson-Young (SA, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I seek leave to incorporate the rest of my remarks into Hansard.

Leave not granted.

Amanda Stoker (Queensland, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister to the Attorney-General) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

One of the things I feel really strongly about is making sure that women like me—the working mums who are juggling all the competing demands of getting their work done, paying the bills, getting kids to school and to swimming, making sure homework gets done, making sure appointments are attended—have the confidence that, while they are occupied with making sure their family is getting ahead, they have, here in Canberra and throughout the country, a Liberal-National government with the values that mean we've got their back through all of the challenges of their every day. I know, because I've got girls of my own but also because of all the people I speak to in our community, that, on a day-to-day basis, families aren't thinking about what goes on in this place. They're thinking about how they are going to get through the day's work without an attack of the mother guilt. They're thinking about how they are going to make sure that their child gets the help they need, either with speech pathology or with a bit of occupational therapy, or how they are going to help make sure they're learning to swim in a way that keeps them safe as summertime approaches. These are the things that occupy the minds of our families, but they need to know we've got their back. It was really good on this International Women's Day and the week that followed it to talk to, appreciate and really showcase some of the great women we're backing as they do their very best to improve the lives of others.

Jo Mason from WorkHaven is an incredible lady. She is a senior marketing professional. She found herself shocked to be in a domestic violence situation. She has used living through that terrible experience to develop new ways to break the cycle of domestic and family violence. She has produced a tool that allows women emerging from that experience to be supported, assisted and encouraged for a three-year period following that traumatic event. It gives them all the information and tools—on everything from their legal situation to safety, housing and health—that will help them keep moving forward even once the crisis resources are no longer with them. It's about helping to keep these women in work and getting them back into work if they have fallen out, because we know that that economic security is really important to help vulnerable women move forward. I was so impressed by Jo and the work that she's doing that it was only a matter of moments before I knew I had to connect them with the Attorney-General's Department to find ways to help them to scale their service delivery so that they can help more women get ahead.

Another great woman I've been working with recently is Selena Gomersall. Ten years ago Selena was a Brisbane based psychologist. She was invited to provide intensive support to a group of women and children in Far North Queensland. Ever since then she has been working tirelessly with bush communities to develop a unique model that empowers people in the bush to take control of their physical and, even more so, their mental health. Out of that experience Outback Futures was born. It is delivering results that break the mould of what we expect for rural health. It helps people in remote communities to understand the services available to them, to seek them out and to advocate for their own mental health. Outback Futures works with people in the bush to help them understand the services they need, make sure that they're available and tailor programs that work to the needs of that individual and their families. Their model is so effective that the councils of every western Queensland community they have worked in are so enthusiastic that they have given their endorsement, and all the neighbouring councils are begging them to come to town to help. The evidence based impact of what they're doing is massively changing the lives of all people, particularly women and children throughout rural Queensland. She's no stranger to my office, and I've loved bringing her down to Canberra this week so that she can share her great work for Queenslanders with this entire nation, its women and its children.