Attorney-general rules out royal commission into domestic violence

Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus ruled out holding a federal royal commission into domestic violence, saying the government should instead focus on implementing policies it has already identified.

Politicians including Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Minister for Women Katy Gallagher, Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth and Dreyfus will attend rallies against male violence in cities across Australia over the weekend, spurred by the killing of 26 women in the first 114 days of the year.

Mark Dreyfus said actions that need to be taken to address domestic violence have already been identified.Credit: Justin McManus

Speaking in Ipswich in Queensland on Saturday morning, Dreyfus said the rallies reflected a high level of community distress about the number of women who were dying at the hands of those who professed to love them.

The attorney-general said Labor had committed $2.3 billion in measures since coming to office, had a national plan to counter violence against women, and had commissioned the Australian Law Reform Commission to look at the justice system’s response to sexual violence.

Asked multiple times if he would consider a royal commission, Dreyfus said the question of violence against women was one that had to be dealt with through co-operation between the federal government working with state and territory governments.

“I think we’ve actually identified a whole range of actions already that need to be taken, and I think what we probably can say is that we need to be working harder on the kinds of actions that have already been identified,” he said.

Last week, Dreyfus gave a speech in Melbourne saying men needed to step up because there was a crisis of male violence after the Bondi stabbing attack, comments which he repeated on Saturday.

“We know more needs to be done and in part, it is about men stepping up, that’s what I said in my speech last week. I’m going to keep saying that men need to step up,” he said.

“One of the things we need to look at is whether or not the current arrangements we’ve got for things like apprehended violence orders [or] domestic violence orders that seek to restrict potential perpetrators are, in fact, enough, are the right measure.”

Pressure is growing for further government action on domestic violence, following the alleged murder of Molly Ticehurst in the NSW town of Forbes this week. Her former partner, Daniel Billings, had earlier been released on bail despite facing charges of raping and stalking her.

Ticehurst’s death led domestic violence advocate Rosie Batty – whose son was killed by his father in 2014 – to call for a NSW royal commission into family violence.

Molly Ticehurst (left) and her accused killer, Daniel Billings.Credit: Sharni Tolhurst Photography, Facebook

The death of Emma Bates in Victoria has also stirred calls for government action, after she was allegedly bashed and left to die by her neighbour, John Torney, in her Cobram home on Tuesday.

Torney was previously found not guilty of murdering a toddler in Mildura in 2015.

NSW Premier Chris Minns will convene an urgent cabinet meeting with experts including Batty. Meanwhile, Albanese declared he was committed to stopping the “scourge of violence” and agreed it would be discussed at the next national cabinet meeting, which was also advocated by Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan.

In a post to social media on Saturday morning, Albanese confirmed he would march with women across the country to say enough is enough.

“Violence against women is an epidemic. We must do better,” he posted to Instagram.

“Governments need to do better and as a society, we need to do better.”

Independent senator David Pocock – who will be speaking at Canberra’s rally on Sunday – would not call for a royal commission but instead urged to see more action from the government.

“I cannot wrap my head around how these frontline service organisations are underfunded, their funding isn’t indexed, and they’re dealing with more, having to do more with less,” he said.

“We’re willing to spend hundreds of billions on national security, what are we going to spend on women’s safety?”

Deputy opposition leader Sussan Ley – who will attend a rally in Cobram, where Bates was killed – would not say if there should be a royal commission but urged the government to hold a national cabinet meeting as soon as possible.

“This is the type of urgent situation national cabinet was created to address. The last meeting was held back in December and the next one needs to be now,” she said.

“The women rallying this weekend are out there because they want the nation’s leaders to hear them, and act decisively to curb what is becoming a spreading cancer in this country.”

Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull and his wife, Lucy, who have previously been vocal on the issue, spoke at the Sydney rally on Saturday, and said domestic violence was one of the biggest problems the government had to address.

“This is a massive social problem, this is about women’s lives and safety, so I don’t know how you can get a social issues that’s more important,” Malcolm Turnbull said.

“It needs cultural change as well as legal changes.”

Coalition spokesman for immigration Dan Tehan would not say if he supported a royal commission into domestic violence but said it was important existing funding went to those who needed it in a timely manner.

“In my electorate, some of the groups that we met with are still waiting to get certainty on very, very important funding in this space,” he said on Saturday.

“The next thing we obviously need to see is [this] on the national cabinet agenda as the No.1 priority.”

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