Page 780 - Week 03 - Wednesday, 18 March 2015
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We also need to look at what we are doing well, and I would like to acknowledge that there is a lot of good work being done. I think that some of the initiatives put forward by the Prime Minister are most welcome, and I thank those members opposite for putting partisanship aside and acknowledging where the federal government has taken some good initiatives. Equally, I recognise that there has been good work done by the ACT government in this area.
But, as I said yesterday—and I think it was acknowledged—we also need to accept that there are gaps, that there are many things that we can be doing. We do need to make sure that the resources that we do provide in this area are targeted, that they are focused where the need is greatest. I do not know where that is. I will be perfectly frank. I have had a range of conversations and I know that there is a need across a number of areas, but, with the finite resources that any government will have, be it federal or local, we need to make sure that the money that we do put forward is targeted to the greatest area of need, is balanced—we cannot have all the money going into one area and not others—and is coordinated.
We want to make sure that we are coordinating the resources so that we do not have duplication in one area with service provision whilst we are excluding another. I know that this is always a difficult issue. It is a difficult space. We will not always get it right. Sometimes mistakes will be made and we need to acknowledge that.
Madam Speaker, I know that you have been a strong advocate in this area for many years. We have had discussions about this and I know that this is something that you feel strongly about, as does Ms Lawder, and that was reflected in her speech yesterday. I know that Mrs Jones would have loved to have been here. I had discussions with her with regard to this issue. She cannot be here because she is imminently due and we await good news, hopefully in the coming few days or weeks, about that. I know that Mrs Jones has been a strong advocate for this as well, as have others in the opposition and others in this place.
As I said yesterday, Mrs Jones raised the issue of the women’s referral centre in the ACT. That centre had been open for 35 years, had provided support for women, many of whom were suffering from domestic violence. It provided access to services. The closing of that I think was unfortunate. There were 700 signatures on a petition. There were certainly comments made by a range of people with regard to the impact that would have on them.
As Mr Corbell said yesterday, women and others suffering from domestic violence do not live in one particular pocket of Canberra. There is the perception that there is social disadvantage in some areas and not others. The reality is that there are people suffering from domestic violence in Tuggeranong, in Belconnen, in Gungahlin, in Woden, in Weston and in the city. And to close and to reduce access to these important services in a particular locale and then say, “You can access these services in the regions, in the town centres of Belconnen or Tuggeranong,” does not work for a woman that might be in the Northbourne flats or for people who are living in the city or close to the city. It does not work if the services that they need to access are closed and they are told, particularly the many women from disadvantaged families who may not have access to a motor vehicle, “Those services will now be available to you in Tuggeranong.” That does not work.
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