Cory Bernardi (SA, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Before I address the substance of the report, I would like to offer a few personal reflections on the inquiry, which I was very pleased to be a part of. The conclusion I came to is that domestic violence affects all Australians in some way, shape or form—as victims, perpetrators, friends or family members or simply because we are all part of a land where domestic violence appears to be a blight on so many in our community.

It is quite harrowing for someone like myself to listen to the evidence that we listened to. It would soften even the hardest heart. It is really quite alarming to think that these things are going on in our communities, often under our very noses and often unnoticed or hidden away. So it was a very confronting inquiry for me. It was very illuminative and informative, and I am very grateful to have been involved in it.

I want to comment briefly on my colleagues who participated in the inquiry. Firstly, Senator Gallagher worked very, very hard to make this a bipartisan report in the main. I will come to why it is not entirely bipartisan shortly. I think there is a profound difference between the tone of the interim report and the tone of the final report. This issue should be above partisan politics. I make no bones about that. It is something that both sides of politics want to work hard to fix, to atone for previous wrongs and to make the future much, much brighter. In that respect, I think we have come to a pretty good conclusion in this report. So I thank Senator Gallagher for working hard in that respect.

I also would like to pay credit to Senator Moore. It was so clear to me that Senator Moore had a very deep, longstanding and passionate interest in this area. A lot of us can say that about a lot of areas but this was something that really shone through with Senator Moore. I just want to say 'thank you' to her for the work that she put in during the inquiry, and I thank her for standing strong in the face of what I thought was a great calumny. That is all I will say in that respect.

The report is broadly bipartisan. There are a couple of departures, and I do regret we could not reach agreement there. But I perfectly understand that this is the way of politics. There are only two little things. The first is in recommendation 1 in our additional comments. The committee recommendation was perhaps a more prescriptive recommendation, whereas the government senators thought that there is some flexibility within working arrangements and that employers and employees can consider specific leave rather than having the Commonwealth mandate that. The second one was effectively one of administration. The government's position was that the information is already available in various positions and the committee wanted it to be consolidated into another one. They are, in the scheme of things, minor and I am sorry that I had to put in the additional comments; nonetheless, they are there.

I recommend this report. It is a very positive step. The contribution from all senators and witnesses was terrific. The witnesses were very courageous and brave to come and tell their personal stories. I echo the sentiments regarding the powerful evidence given by Mrs Rosie Batty. She has turned perhaps one of the most horrific experiences any parent could experience into something that is overwhelmingly positive for the country. It is quite extraordinary and speaks of her courage. I thank senators for their contributions and I thoroughly recommend this report to the Senate.