Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Vice-President of the Executive Council) Share this | Hansard source

by leave—Last Thursday our nation was shocked by a crime so terrible that it is difficult for most of us to comprehend how it could possibly have happened. Hannah Clarke and her children—Aaliyah, six; Laianah, four; and Trey, three—were murdered on a street in Brisbane. They died at the hands of an evil man, a man they should not have had to fear: Hannah's estranged husband and the father of those beautiful children. We ask as a nation: how could anyone do such a thing to the ones he should love? And we ask: why could Hannah and her children not be protected?

These questions and more will have to be dealt with at an inquest in Queensland, which will seek to reveal the truth behind this horrific crime. For now our nation wraps its arms around the family of Hannah Clarke. We say to the Clarke family today that we are with you in your grief. Tears have been shed all over our nation for Hannah and her children. All Australians have felt the pain of this horrific crime and support you. We convey to you our love and the sympathies of everyone here in this place, reflecting the love and sympathy from all the Australian people. We hope you can take some comfort in the fact that as a community and as a nation we embrace you at this incredibly difficult time. You as a family must have so many emotions. You must be asking yourselves so many questions. And if you are angry and feel let down by the system you have every right to feel that way.

Governments and authorities across this country have done so much to try to protect the victims of domestic violence, but Hannah and her children were not protected when they should have been. Right across governments, law enforcement agencies and the judiciary, we must ask ourselves: how can we do better? We must not let Hannah's and her children's deaths be in vain. We must learn from this and move to protect other women and children who find themselves in similar situations. The figures are too terrible to ignore: one woman is killed every nine days by a partner or a former partner, one in six Australian women have experienced physical or sexual violence by a current or former partner since the age of 15, and every two minutes somewhere in our country police are called out to a domestic violence incident.

The Commonwealth and the states have worked closely together on trying to tackle this violence. This has very much been a bipartisan initiative, and we acknowledge the work to establish the first action plan under the National Plan to Reduce Violence Against Women and their Children 2010-2022 commenced under the Rudd and Gillard governments. Now, as part of the fourth action plan, the Commonwealth is investing $340 million for frontline services to protect and support women and children. In total, since 2013, the Commonwealth has committed $840 million to address domestic and family violence—and yet we face this. In August last year, COAG agreed to the fourth action plan. In November we released the national implementation plan. It includes funding for prevention strategies and frontline services, including for groups which need additional support, funding for safe spaces as well as funding for 1800RESPECT. 1800RESPECT is open 24 hours to support people impacted by sexual assault, domestic or family violence and abuse.

We will continue to work together to fight against this evil in our community. But today we remember Hannah and her children and grieve with her family. Those beautiful faces we have all seen in those pictures will drive us to do better.