Jill Hall (Shortland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On Friday, 30 October I joined with my colleagues at Lake Macquarie in the Reclaim the Night rally. I was there with the member for Charlton, the member for Swansea and the member for Charlestown, who is also the mayor of Lake Macquarie. We joined with women—and some men, too—as we walked along the foreshore of Lake Macquarie saying no to domestic violence, no to making the lives of women so perilous, and 'no more' to women losing their lives on a regular basis, as they have been.

It is an absolute disgrace that in our country two women are losing their lives every week. As a nation, particularly during this week, White Ribbon Week, we need to stand up and say: 'Enough's enough. It's got to stop. It's time for men to respect women.' Those men who joined with us as we walked around the lake absolutely gave unconditional support to women, as have many men—it was very pleasing to hear the debate here in parliament earlier today. It is time for everybody to take responsibility for what has been happening in our communities and see it come to an end.