Aaron Violi (Casey, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Dickson for her contribution and for sharing that story, and I thank the member for Newcastle for moving this motion. The member for Newcastle is correct that an issue like this has bipartisan support. To sit here and listen to the member for Newcastle and the Leader of the Opposition share those names is a reminder for us all that we need to do more. We need to be better. We would love to be in a world where there were no lives lost to violence, but that world doesn't exist. We need to strive every day to get better.

The statistics are shocking—74 women lost in the last 12 months. In 2023-24, one woman was killed every eight days in this country. One woman was killed every eight days. One in four women have experienced domestic violence by a partner, which is 25 per cent of women in this country. That is completely unacceptable. Behind those statistics—the member for Dickson shared one story—we know there is a story for every one of those women. And it's not just the women that are impacted. It's their children. It's their parents. It's their loved ones. There are so many people in society impacted by this.

We need to understand—and this is the reason I'm standing here to speak—that it is not just the women of this parliament and the women of Australia that have a role to play. The leaders of the country, the men in this place and the men in communities have a role to play. We need to call out any inappropriate behaviour made by our friends, our colleagues and our workmates. We need to make sure that all men understand that violence is not acceptable in any circumstance. We need to hold them to account. We need to show courage and call it out when we see it. We need to understand that there is a better way and there is a different way. Early intervention is a key part of that.

I don't believe that men are evil, clearly. Of the men that perpetrate this, there are clearly a percentage that are evil. But I have to live in hope that, while we can't change what people have done, we can intervene with the younger generation. Can we stop this violence from occurring at an earlier age? I am proud to be part of Parliamentary Friends of Healthy Masculinities, which launched last week, with the member for Hunter, Dan Repacholi, and Senator David Pocock. It's an example of an organisation that is engaging with young men in their teenage years by having conversations with them and explaining to them that it's okay to share their weaknesses and be vulnerable. I, and so many others, grew up in a generation that was told that it was weak to speak. You had to be strong and you had to show strength at all times. And, once that armour is put up, day after day, week after week, year after year, some men can lose some of their humanity and lose touch with what they believe in, with who they are and with what they think is acceptable.

We need to continue to support organisations like the Man Cave to make sure that young men learn to be in touch with their emotions and to have conversations. They can't bottle it up and then have it come out in violence—whether it's against their partner or against another person that's just having a beer with their friends at the pub. We need to stop that cycle. We need to make sure that, if people do the wrong thing, there are serious consequences. The perpetrators have to be held to account. The families and the victims have to be protected by the police, by our court system, by the justice system. If you do the wrong thing, you deserve everything that is thrown at you.

This is not an issue, and not a challenge, that will be solved tomorrow. We wish it would be. It will take every day of this parliament, state parliaments, the judiciary and the police force working to improve these outcomes. The sad reality is that, even with all the goodwill that we have, we know we can't solve this problem overnight. Just because you can't solve a problem overnight doesn't mean that you stop trying. We can make a difference; we will make a difference. Motions like this are very important. As the member for Newcastle and the Leader of the Opposition did—those women that we lost should never be forgotten. Their names will now be in the Hansard forever. That is an important statement as we continue to improve as a society and make sure, hopefully, that one day there are no more names to be read out.

See this speech in context