Luke Gosling (Solomon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I stand to speak about family violence and White Ribbon Day, which is marked this Friday, as is the International Day for Elimination of Violence against Women. I want to acknowledge my friend, the member for Lindsay, and all of the speakers. I was proud to attend the White Ribbon breakfast here in Parliament House this morning. I want to acknowledge all of those whose lives have been affected by the scourge of family violence and I want to acknowledge all of those who are working to make things better.

I will touch on the Northern Territory's situation and, hopefully, will give some good examples. I am proud to be a member of a party that is proposing concrete practical steps to address family violence in our communities. While I am not taking anything away from what the Prime Minister had to say this morning, I am proud of the initiatives that our leader has highlighted, including the issue of family violence leave, the initiatives around revenge porn and also how we can change how our courts run so that victims of family violence are not then taken through another process of unnecessary trauma.

One of the reasons that I welcome our leader's approach is because of the impact of family violence on the people of Darwin and Palmerston—my electorate. The overall effect of family violence in the Northern Territory is substantial.

For example, we have by far the highest rate of homicide offences related to family violence in the country. In the last three years, there have been 75,000 incidents of family violence in the Northern Territory—out of a population of 244,000. At least one child is subjected to family violence in the NT every day; 44 per cent of family violence orders were breached, and 44 per cent of family violence offenders were repeat offenders. Rates of assaults related to family violence were more than four times higher in the NT than in any other Australian state or territory. These are obviously not stats to be proud of, and we are certainly not proud of them in the Northern Territory. But we look at them in the cold light of day and commit ourselves to making things better. There is a long way to go.

One thing that we are very proud of is that there are volunteers working both in the protection space and in the legal space—with the refuges. But there are also people, strong men, working with other men in men's groups to encourage them to be the agents for change in their communities. One such organisation is the 'No More' campaign, which is headed by local Aboriginal leader, Charlie King. He is an inspirational man. He is widely known for his role as an ABC sports broadcaster, but he has also tirelessly dedicated himself to this No More campaign.

The campaign started in 2006. It followed a large meeting of Indigenous men from right across the Northern Territory. I stress that, obviously, family violence is not just an issue to do with Indigenous men—but Charlie King has seen the need and called together people from 37 different locations throughout the Northern Territory. They came together and made a commitment that they were going to work to make sure that there was no more family violence. They have been working on that for some time, and I am very proud to say that Charlie King will be coming here to Canberra next week and will be bringing some countrymen with him, and they will be talking about the initiatives that they have committed to.

When we address family violence on a national scale, it is important that we support groups that are tackling family violence on the local level. We need to make sure that organisations that are working with people caught up in family violence are properly funded. I want to acknowledge all of those people who work in the refuges and the legal services of the Northern Territory. Keep doing your work. It is absolutely essential. And I want to say well done to Charlie King and I look forward to seeing him here next week.

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