Larissa Waters (Queensland, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the minister representing the Minister for Social Services, Minister Farrell. Every week in Australia women and children suffer at the hands of men. According to volunteer organisation Counting Dead Women, 66 women have been killed so far this year. We know this is a problem for men to fix. We know that 95 per cent of perpetrators are men. As a male minister of the Albanese government, what are you and all of your male cabinet colleagues personally doing to drive down the rates of violence and change cultural and behavioural attitudes amongst men?

Don Farrell (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Trade and Tourism) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Senator Waters, for raising an important issue. The short answer is: everything we can—everything I can do as an individual, as a man, as a member of the Labor Party, as a minister and as a father of three daughters, with one granddaughter and a wife. I will do everything I can, Senator Waters.

I believe as a government we take this issue very, very seriously. Family and domestic violence is a very terrible scourge on our society. One death is one death too many in this space. As a government and to a man we completely reject domestic violence. We have to act, I think, as a community to try and resolve this terrible, terrible issue. It's not an easy issue to resolve, Senator Waters. I think I would speak for every male standing behind me that we all want to see an end to this scourge that is domestic violence. As a government we're, of course, investing in a whole range of programs that are designed to try and reduce the impact of domestic violence, and I know the minister— (Time expired)

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Waters, first supplementary?

Larissa Waters (Queensland, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There have been 12 First Nations women killed just since June. Eight of those women were in the Northern Territory. The government is late in responding to the missing and murdered First Nations women and children inquiry recommendations, which went to making police interactions more culturally safe and centring the voices of First Nations women to shape solutions and collect better data. Will you implement these recommendations in full, and when?

Don Farrell (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Trade and Tourism) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Senator Waters, for your first supplementary question. Of course, we work very assuredly in this space. I work with Senator McCarthy to ensure that we address all of these issues. Again, I make the point, like it or not, that these are difficult issues to resolve. They're difficult issues to resolve quickly. What we have tried to do as a government, whatever the issue might have been, is to take practical action, practical steps, to make life better in this space. (Time expired)

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Waters, second supplementary?

Larissa Waters (Queensland, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The women's safety sector has long called for $1 billion per year to meet demand for frontline services so that they have the resourcing to help everyone who reaches out for help. Will the government finally commit at least $1 billion per year to address the epidemic of men's violence against women with the urgency that it requires?

Don Farrell (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Trade and Tourism) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Waters for her second supplementary question. The government, of course, has committed $7.7 billion in funding for gender based violence and legal assistance over our 2½ years in government. This is on top of almost $2 billion to expand the single parent payment, which provides critical financial support for women and children escaping violence and over $10 billion to expand social and affordable housing and crisis accommodation, which we know is crucial so that women have a place to go. Funding for frontline services have traditionally been the responsibility of the states and territories, but, at National Cabinet, we extended our funding for the national partnership agreement to provide long-term funding certainty for frontline services and leverage hundreds of millions in— (Time expired)