Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Each year I rise in this parliament to honour the lives of women who have died in the past year through acts of violence, often committed by someone known to them. Tonight I stand to honour and pay my respects to the 40 women who have died this year. This equates to almost one violent death every week in 2022. Regrettably, the actual number is likely to be much higher, as the list is limited to deaths that have been publicly reported. Before I acknowledge each woman who is no longer with us, I want to acknowledge the researchers from Destroy the Joint, who do the heartbreaking and difficult work of maintaining the Counting Dead Women Register Australia, where this information is recorded.

In Australia in 2022 we have lost the following woman: Poonam Sharma, aged 39; Krishna Chopra, 61. Christine Stephan, 68; Amina Hayat, 19; Angela Huata, 41; Vanessa Godfrey, 46; Synamin Bell, 26; Kylie Griffiths, 36; Sharyn Simonds, 60; Susan Walker, 74; Mackenzie Anderson, 21; Linda Simon, 62; Danielle Jordan, 40; Chen Cheng, 35; Donna Howe, 57; Feebie McIntosh, 25; Shirley Kidd, 68; Cheryl Johnson, 62; AK, 30, and her 15-week-old infant; Shereen Kumar, 43; Maree Schwartz, 59; Jifeng 'Eileen' Liu, 47; Florrie 'Kory' Reuben, 47; Tania Trickey, 44; Amneh al-Hazouri, known as Amy, 39; Lametta Fadlallah, 48; Susan Duffy, 71; Barbara Willshire, 92; Louise Hughes, 51; Nardia Louise Spice, 40; Christine Barker, 74; Emily Thompson, 18; Sheena Fairfield, 39; Vitorina Bruce, 40; and another six unnamed women. Each of these debts is a tragedy, and each death should fully galvanise us as political leaders to do everything necessary to end this national scourge of violence against women and children in our nation.

We are currently marking the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence in Australia, and I want to pay tribute to the Newcastle domestic violence committee, which last Friday held a candlelight vigil, as many cities and towns around Australia did, to remember the woman killed by violence in 2022. I'm sick of attending candlelight vigils, and I don't want to have to stand in this parliament each and every year reciting the list of women who have been killed by the most violent means imaginable, but I will stand here, because each and every one of those women needs to be remembered, and their deaths can never be in vain. We have to stop violence against women and children, and we need to do it now.

I am very proud that an Albanese Labor government, in partnership with the states and territories, has developed a new national plan to end gender based violence within a generation. This is a big ambition, because all of the statistics in this country are heading in the wrong direction and, notwithstanding efforts from governments over time, we have failed to make a dent in this regard. We will also honour our commitment to a standalone dedicated national action plan to support First Nations women, but it's up to every single one of us to make sure we put those words into action.

House adjourned at 19:59