Another minister is sidelined by Daniel Andrews, this time over family violence reform

PREMIER Daniel Andrews has claimed allegations that he bullied women in his government were “complete nonsense” after snubbing his minister in charge of family violence reform.

Minister for the Prevention of Family Violence Fiona Richardson has been pushed into the background by Special Minister for State Gavin Jennings.

PREMIER Daniel Andrews has claimed allegations that he bullied women in his government were “complete nonsense” after snubbing his minister in charge of family violence reform.

Former Australian of the Year Rosie Batty has delivered a scathing rebuke of Mr Andrews after Prevention of Family Violence Minister Fiona Richardson quit as chair of a key steering committee.

Responsibility for the whole-of-government response to family violence was handed to the Premier’s right-hand man Gavin Jennings.

Mr Andrews said he had not seen Ms Batty’s comments but that there was “no time to waste” and his government was committed to introducing family violence reforms “as a team”.

“We are, all of us, called to do what no government has ever done before and that is deliver the reform in family violence services, in attitudes, in so many different ways to keep Victorian women and their children safe,” Mr Andrews said.

“Each and every member of our government has a role to play in that.”

Asked why Ms Richardson would not be in charge of the government’s response, the Premier said: “Because it’s not for any one individual. We all have this load to carry, we all have to make sure that we work as a team and we are.”

Rosie Batty and Premier Daniel Andrews at Parliament earlier this year. Picture: Eugene Hyland

He said Ms Richardson had made it clear that “these are the best set of arrangements for us to have in place”.

Ms Batty praised Ms Richardson’s work and said she was would be “very, very disappointed” if the Premier had pushed her out due to factional conflicts.

“I’d be very, very disappointed, really, truly disappointed, and I’m sure the Premier would be devastated to think that personality differences or internal conflict based on personal differences have overtaken what is a monumental demonstration by the State Government in this unprecedented funding of reform,” Ms Batty told the ABC.

She said Ms Richardson had been instrumental in involving key support services and victims of family violence in the reform process.

“This is the particular passion of Minister Richardson, that she was absolutely passionate that for the first time ever, the voices of victims were woven into how we would review and work collectively and collaboratively together,” Ms Batty said.

She told the ABC that “it was really quite telling that there is a lot of pressure internally” in the government, adding that they needed to “get cracking” on implementing the reforms of the Royal Commission into Family Violence.

Ms Batty raised concerns that without Ms Richardson at the helm, the voices of victims and support services would not be given the same level of attention.

“We do need to review this and we do need to hold the government to account and explain the different approaches that they’re taking,” Ms Batty said.

“It certainly has and does distract a lot of people who have great hope and great expectations of the systemic changes that we are looking to collaboratively implement.”

In May, the Premier announced Ms Richardson would co-chair with Domestic Violence Victoria chief executive Fiona McCormack a steering committee made up government, victims, police and community groups to “overhaul our family violence system from the ground up”.

Prevention of Family Violence Minister Fiona Richardson, anti-violence advocate Rosie Batty and the Premier Daniel Andrews as the Royal Comission into Family Violence findings were handed down. Picture: Eugene Hyland

But Ms Richardson revealed to colleagues this week she was standing aside from the role because she was no longer leading the whole-of-government response to recommendations made by the Royal Commission into Family Violence.

“I will be stepping down as co-chair to enable Minister Jennings to take on the responsibility for addressing the recommendations as a whole of government,” she said.

Furious MPs spoke to the Herald Sun about the move to elevate Mr Jennings, which they described as a snub to Ms Richardson who is a survivor of family violence.

But a government source was quick to downplay the changes, arguing that Mr Jennings was well placed to organise whole-of-government responses as special minister of state.

Opposition prevention of family violence spokeswoman Georgie Crozier accused Mr Andrews of bullying another woman in his Cabinet.

She said he was a “petty and nasty payback merchant” who “has a problem with strong women”.

“When he waxes lyrical about equality, he is nothing but a garden variety hypocrite,” Ms Crozier said.

The internal furore comes amid rising tensions in Labor caucus, which were inflamed when emergency services minister Jane Garrett was sidelined by Mr Andrews over the CFA dispute.

Ms Garrett resigned as a minister in June.

On Wednesday, Ms Garrett and Ms Richardson were spotted in a parliamentary cafe with federal Labor Right powerbroker Stephen Conroy and former Small Business Minister Adem Somyurek.

One Labor MP told the Herald Sun the move by Mr Andrews to diminish the role of another minister looked like he kept sidelining strong women, while another said the move was a factional hit at the expense of the family violence reform agenda.

Another MP said it was “staggering that a highly respected female who is also a family violence survivor would be dumped from being the key minister to deliver Royal Commission findings”.

In her letter to MPs, Ms Richardson said the government had decided to split the response to Royal Commission recommendations between portfolios, which means “I now have lead responsibility for 7 of 227 recommendations”.

In response to questions about the changes, Ms Richardson said “the whole of the Andrews Labor Government is dedicated to protecting the safety of women and children”.

“In order to ensure a proper whole-of-government approach to our reforms, the Andrews Labor Government has established a new Social Services Taskforce,” she said.

“This taskforce, to be led by the Special Minister of State, will bring together the Government’s social services across several portfolios, including housing, children’s and family services, and family violence.”

The committee from which Ms Richardson stepped down also includes Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton, last year’s Australian of the Year Rosie Batty, Chief Magistrate Peter Lauritsen and other community leaders.