PM declares domestic and family violence a ‘national crisis’ ahead of emergency meeting with states and territories
The PM has been accused of lying by organisers of a ‘No More’ rally against men’s violence. Anthony Albanese was heckled and booed during a brief address to the rally.
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The prime minister has been accused of lying to a crowd of thousands who rallied in the nation’s capital to protest violence against women.
In a speech to the crowd, Anthony Albanese suggested he had asked the rally organisers for permission to speak but had been knocked back.
But event organiser Sarah Williams posted to Facebook that she had reached out to the Prime Minister and other senior ministers to speak.
“The prime minister of Australia lied to his country today,” she said. “Representatives from (Finance Minister Katy) Gallagher and Albanese’s offices both said this morning that they were sure Katy would be happy to speak. Not the prime minister.”
“Albanese’s office made it clear he was just walking and was not interested in speaking. “Myself and WWYW (What Were You Wearing) never denied him from speaking.
“He never asked to speak. “For him to not only demand he speak because he was being heckled, but lie was disgraceful.
The prime minister responded on Monday morning and acknowledged that it was an emotional day and said he was trying to not be disrespectful.
“Well, what was important yesterday, was that the organisers throughout the country deserve credit for organising these rallies,” Mr Albanese said on Today on Monday.
“I was happy not to speak, I was happy to speak, it was about raising awareness of the issue, but a call to action by all governments, quite clearly, we need to do more.
“It’s not enough to just have empathy, the fact that one woman dies every four days, on average, at the hand of a partner, is just a national crisis.”
“We need to change culture, because it is completely unacceptable.”
But host Karl Stefanovic pushed back: “You were called a liar? How does that sit with you?”
Mr Albanese shrugged it off: “I’m focused on the issue, Karl.
“It was an emotional day for people and I get that on what is an emotional issue. Because women were saying yesterday, enough is enough,” he said.
“Right around the country, over the last three days, we’ve seen tens of thousands of people demonstrate women and men, girls and boys all coming together on this critical issue. And we do need to do better as a society.”
Asked later on the ABC if he had tried to reach out to Ms Williams to clear the air, the Prime Minister said: “I wish Sarah well. She did well in organising the rallies, as did everyone there”.
On Sunrise, Mr Alabanese was confronted with the claim that during a conversation about speaking at the rally, he said: “I’m the Prime Minister, I run this country”.
Mr Albanese did not deny, but suggested the media’s microphones would have picked up such a statement.
“People... were there recording everything that went on, so you were there, the media were all around and they heard everything that was said there,” he said on Sunrise.
It comes as Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek said a “smorgasbord of violent misogyny” exposed to young males online is fuelling violence against women.
Ms Plibersek recognised the government’s efforts to curb domestic and family violence but said the abundance of online misogyny is working directly against their efforts.
“We’ve talked about this program before, governments investing money, police are changing what they do, courts are changing what they do, there’s more emergency support out there but what’s working against that is this incredible amount of violent misogyny online,” Ms Plibersek said on Sunrise on Monday.
“There’s this smorgasbord of violent misogyny that’s being fed to, particularly, adolescent boys. And so, society is trying to fix it on the one hand and, on the other hand, we have the exact opposite force happening, working against us trying to improve things.
“So we need to ...we need to look at what governments are doing, what police are doing, what courts are doing, what emergency services are doing, but we also need to look at what is happening particularly to young men online that are supporting these misogynist attitudes.”
Emergency DV meeting as PM heckled at ‘No More’ rally
An emergency session of national cabinet focused solely on domestic and family violence will discuss bail laws, perpetrator research, and other frontline supports this week, as Anthony Albanese describes the situation as a “national crisis”.
The Prime Minister was heckled and booed during a tense exchange at the ‘No More’ rally against men’s violence in Canberra on Sunday, but despite the palpable community anger he persevered to deliver a brief address acknowledging countless governments’ failure to stop the scourge of violence.
The rally attended by more than 5,000 people was one of several held in capital cities and regional centres around Australia over the past three days, including thousands in Brisbane, about 15,000 people in Melbourne and 10,000-strong crowd in Sydney.
Speaking in Canberra, Mr Albanese revealed all state and territory leaders would meet virtually on Wednesday for national cabinet where domestic and family violence would be the only agenda item.
It is understood a range of issues will be discussed with the premiers, likely including bail law reform, collaborating on perpetrator research and support for frontline services in line with the national plan to end domestic and family violence.
As the PM outlined Labor’s $2.3 billion investment to tackle DV, a heckler yelled “it’s not enough,” to which he replied “I know”.
“I know, and that’s why I’m here. I know that we must do better, but I know this as well … it’s not just governments’ problem, it’s a problem of our entire society,” he said.
“This is a national crisis.”
Governments have committed to end the violence within one generation, but with one woman murdered on average every four days this year, the community has demanded more action.
There have been 32 women have been killed in Australia so far in 2024, including 27 allegedly murdered at the hands of a current or former partner.
In Canberra, rally organiser and chief executive of community organisation What Were You Wearing, Sarah Williams, spoke of her own personal harrowing experience of family, domestic and sexual violence.
Ms Williams paid tribute to all victim survivors, noting the event would not be happening if they were all properly supported.
Mr Albanese, who was joined by his fiancee Jodie Haydon, Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth and Women’s Minister Katy Gallagher and several other Labor MPs, sat on the grass listening as Ms Williams spoke.
The rally became tense as the group of politicians resisted indicating their support or otherwise of the key demands put forward by Ms Williams, including that the DV crisis be declared a “national emergency,” that frontline workers be trained to avoid victim-blaming and media be prevented from publishing the identity of a victim for at least 24 hours unless with a family’s consent.
Ms Williams suggested the PM give a thumbs up or down, and as the situation deteriorated, members of the crowd begun to boo and heckle, shouting things like “shame on you” and “why are you even here”.
Mr Albanese and his colleagues then walked up to the stage and after some debate among organisers whether the PM should be granted a microphone, he delivered a short address acknowledging governments’ failures and calling out the wider societal attitudes and problems that fuel family and domestic violence.
“Society and Australia must do better,” he said.
“We need to change the culture, we need to change attitudes, we need to change the legal system, we need to change the approach by all governments, because it’s not enough to support victims, we need to focus on the perpetrators and focus on prevention.”
At one point Mr Albanese said he believed organisers had declined his request to speak at the rally, to which Ms Williams retorted “that’s a lie”.
Speaking after the rally Ms Gallagher acknowledged the raw emotion in the crowd, saying she and her colleagues – including Mr Albanese – had come to the march to listen “respectfully” to the views of others.
“We want to work with whoever wants to work with us to end violence against women in this country, it’s not going to happen overnight, it’s not going to be one government, it’s going to be everyone working together,” she said.
Meanwhile Coalition Senator Bridget McKenzie has pushed for a royal commission into the issue, as well as bolstering support services.
“The reality is (Labor) promised more frontline services,” she said.
“They are not on the ground, particularly in the regions where these violent acts are being perpetrated, and I think we’ve all had enough.”
Ms Rishworth downplayed the need for a royal commission, saying the government’s focus was on delivering the existing national plan to end violence.
“I’m incredibly angry and frustrated as many women and men around Australia are,” she said.
“The levels of family domestic violence are just too high.”
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