Page 778 - Week 03 - Wednesday, 18 March 2015
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calling for increased focus on domestic violence, can only be a good thing. I certainly include the words of Mr Rattenbury as well, in support of Mr Corbell’s motion yesterday. This is a tripartisan view.
I also note the very eloquent and moving speech made by Ms Lawder yesterday evening in the adjournment debate, when members of the Costigan family were present. I do not think that anyone who was here would not have been moved by those words. As I spoke to the Costigan family members yesterday, reflecting on the tragic events of the death of Tara Costigan, I did reflect that there is no doubt that those tragic events have led to increased public awareness and certainly a focus here in the Assembly on the desperate need to make sure that we are doing all that we can. There is nothing that will take away the hurt and pain from the Costigan family, but they should rest assured that her death will not be in vain, that it has served to make sure that our efforts in this place towards the very important issue of domestic violence are redoubled.
Yesterday we reflected on this issue, and we talked about the statistics. I will turn to those later on, but there is no doubt that the statistics are horrific and we need to raise awareness constantly. We have got to make sure that the efforts that we have made in the Assembly this week, the public awareness that has come about because of the tragic events that we have seen and the focus that we see through COAG in July, through the appointment of Rosie Batty as Australian of the Year, do not then fade as our attention moves to other issues. We must make sure that we redouble our efforts constantly.
I know that there are those in this Assembly that do so, and I point out Mr Gentleman, who was referenced yesterday. I know he has been very active in this area, with White Ribbon. I am very proud, personally, to be a White Ribbon ambassador. I know others are. So this is not something that is a Liberal or a Labor or a Green issue. We all own it.
I think that we can change the culture, because that is what is needed. It is about respect, it is about the way that we behave and it is about making it clear in our community that no domestic violence, no action, is acceptable, and that what is acceptable is standing up. If it is seen, if you are aware, if you see any behaviour that is reflective of domestic violence in all of its forms, then it is acceptable to say that is not a goer, it is acceptable to dob people in and it is acceptable to stand up for people who are the victims of domestic violence. There is a sort of culture in Australia about not dobbing people in and so on, and there is no place for that when it comes to domestic violence.
I have called for a roundtable, but I would like to make the point that that is not, in my view, any sort of panacea. As I said yesterday, it is not the start of a conversation; it is not the finish of a conversation; it is simply an effort to say that a number of changes have happened in our community of recent times, since the government last held a roundtable. We have seen the funding cuts that were the subject of Mr Corbell’s motion yesterday, that the opposition supported, and we need to see what the impact of those is on those community organisations affected.
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