National cabinet to meet on violence against women

Anthony Albanese says 'we need to change the legal system' as he joins thousands across the country who have gathered to demand action.

Anthony Albanese at the No More! National Rally Against Violence march in Canberra. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Welcome to The Weekend Australian's live politics blog, Politics Now. 

Live Updates

9:30 pm April 28, 2024

PM wasn't stopped from speaking: rally organiser

Staff writers

https://www.instagram.com/p/C6TVHinLrEb

Founder of the What Were You Wearing WWYW non-profit organisation Sarah Williams claims she and WWYW “never” denied Anthony Albanese from speaking at the “No More” rally in Canberra on Sunday.

While addressing the rally in Canberra, the Prime Minister claimed he and Finance Minister Katy Gallagher were told they couldn’t speak.

“To be clear we did ask to speak, myself and Katy, and were told that that wasn’t possible and that’s fine, I respect the organisers right to do that,” Mr Albanese can be heard saying in footage from the ABC, as Ms Williams says “That’s a lie”.

“We’re here today to demand that governments of all levels must do better, including my own, including every state and territory government,” Mr Albanese continued.

“We’re here as well to say that society and Australia must do better. We need to change the culture, we need to change attitudes, we need to change the legal system.”

In a statement posted to Instagram this evening, Ms Williams claimed Mr Albanese “never asked to speak”.

“Representatives from Gallagher and Albanese’s offices both said this morning that they were sure Katy would be happy to speak. Not the prime minister,” her statement read.

“Albanese’s office made it clear he was just walking and was not interested in speaking. Myself and WWYW 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 statement also said Mr Albanese had “demonstrated today what entitlement looks like”.

“A man with power trying to diminish a vulnerable young woman.

“Just because you are the Prime Minister of the country does not mean you get to use your title to scare a young woman into letting you speak.

“To have him hear my lived experience, see my vulnerability and then have the audacity to lie was appalling. I burst into tears right next to him. The fact you continued to speak and didn’t mention me once nor apologise was appalling.

“You walked to that stage and listed your achievements to try to save yourself.

“The rallies were created because you aren’t doing enough.”

Mr Albanese has been contacted for comment at the time of publication.

Ms Williams' statement ended with "National strike May 20. More to come soon!"

— Clareese Packer

9:02 pm April 28, 2024

Australia 'can't be left behind on TikTok': Paterson

Staff writers

Opposition home affairs spokesperson James Paterson says Australia needs to follow the United States in banning TikTok.

Speaking to Sky News, Senator Paterson said Australia “can’t wait”.

“On the advice of our national security agencies (TikTok) has already been banned from every government employee’s phone,” he said.

“It cannot be downloaded on a government employee's phone and that is because it is an espionage risk to individual users.

“The other danger is the danger of foreign interference that it poses, because its algorithm is non-transparent … every user is having their own unique experience.

“Australia can’t wait, we can’t be left behind, we have to follow the United States and also legislate to try and make TikTok safer by divesting it … and removing the Chinese communist party’s control over the app.”

— Clareese Packer

8:39 pm April 28, 2024

Not all men are violent: Dai Le

Staff writers

Independent MP Dai Le says we need to be “mindful of language” when talking about violence against women, “because not all men are violent”.

Speaking on ABC, Ms Le called for targeted funding to combat violence against women.

“What I think the government needs to do is to get the funding and target that to communities,” she said.

“Communities are experiencing high domestic violence. Getting it implemented, getting programs, getting education.”

Ms Le also said we need to ensure “we don’t alienate one group from another”.

“I'm a mother of a son. I know that we have to be mindful of our language, because not all men are violent, but how we are portraying it is that men are violent against women.

“How do we include the young men in our society? How do we make sure they're educated to respect and to work alongside women? We don't feel like we are saying they're the bad ones there.

“What language are we sending out to young men growing up in this day and age? Targeted program, education, ensure that young boys and young girls work together to know that they respect one another and human beings.”

— Clareese Packer

4:20 pm April 28, 2024 Highlight

National cabinet to meet on violence against women

Staff writers

Anthony Albanese and Jodie Haydon attend the No More! National Rally Against Violence march in Canberra. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Anthony Albanese has announced a national cabinet meeting on Wednesday, which will focus on violence against women.

The Prime Minister made an appearance at the “No More” rally in Canberra this afternoon and said “We need to change the legal system”, according to The Guardian.

“We’re here today to demand that governments of all levels must do better, including my own, including every state and territory government,” he said.

“Society and Australia must do better. We need to change the culture and we need to change attitudes. We need to change the legal system.

“It’s not enough to support victims. We need to focus on the perpetrators, focus on prevention.”

— Clareese Packer

4:16 pm April 28, 2024

Men need to 'change behaviour': Pocock

Staff writers

Independent senator David Pocock says the government needs to prioritise women and Australians in the federal budget at the Canberra “No More” rally.

Speaking at the rally this afternoon, he said women should be able to feel safe, and to achieve that, men need to “change their behaviour”.

“It's a challenge to men to be changing our conversations, to be calling out disrespect, to be picking up our mates on the sexist language,” he said.

“Clearly this is not something that we can just change overnight, but we can change it and we must change it, and it takes a commitment from all of us.”

Mr Pocock acknowledged the presence of Anthony Albanese and local members at the rally today, saying their presence is a “big change from three years ago, from the rhetoric that we heard”.

However, he said the government needs to step up and provide long term funding for front line domestic violence services “as a minimum”.

“We know the link between poverty, insecurity, and family and domestic violence. Women wanting to leave but not being able to for fear of poverty, of not having somewhere to live, nowhere safe to go, not able to find a home through our frontline services,” he said.

“One thing our government could be doing is to raise the rate of single parent payments, of job seeker, of youth allowance, to actually look after Australians.

“Let's prioritise Australians, let's prioritise women in this budget.”

He finished his address, saying he will “continue to push in there, but we need to see action in government”.

— Clareese Packer

4:09 pm April 28, 2024

PM attends 'No More' Canberra rally

Staff writers

Anthony Albanese and Jodie Haydon attend the No More! National Rally Against Violence march in Canberra. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Anthony Albanese appeared at the Canberra “No More” rally this afternoon as thousands gathered across the country over the weekend to protest violence against women.

The Prime Minister told one woman “We’re over it”, according to The Guardian.

Mr Albanese said “It’s a pretty simple message” to another woman holding a sign that said “Stop killing women”.

He also said the “whole government” is united to tackle the issue.

— Clareese Packer

12:25 pm April 28, 2024

'Violence against women not our problem to fix'

Staff writers

Protestors marching in solidarity during the 'No More!' National Rally Against Violence in Melbourne. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Luis Enrique Ascui

As thousands protest violence against women in Melbourne, chants from the crowd include passionate cries of “whatever I wear and wherever I go, yes means yes and no means no”.

In a speech, journalist Sherele Moody listed the many ways in which women had been killed this year.

“I cannot be clearer on this: gendered violence is the problem,” she said.

“Violence against women is not a woman’s problem to fix, it never was, and it never will be.

“At the end of the day, it’s us women who pick up the pieces after lives have been stolen.”

Aggie Di Mauro, mother of murdered woman Celeste Manno, held up photos of each woman who had died in 2024 due to men’s violence as Ms Moody read their names, ages and where they were from.

After her daughter Celeste was murdered by her stalker and former colleague Luay Nader Sako in 2020, Ms Di Mauro and her family have fiercely advocated for reform and justice.

“(Celeste) should be here,” Ms Di Mauro said.

“The judge in our case was supposed to take into account some unique features, but she felt sorry for (Nader Sako).

“Our Attorney General actually admitted it recently on 60 Minutes – she said ‘that family was failed’.

“I won’t get Celeste back, but I promised I’d get her justice."

– Grace Baldwin

10:12 am April 28, 2024 Highlight

Thousands protest violence against women

Staff writers

Victorian Premier Jacinta Allen, centre, marches in Melbourne's CBD.

Thousands have taken to the streets of Melbourne's CBD to protest violence against women, calling for immediate action against a growing epidemic of femicide.

As part of a national campaign, the What Were You Wearing rallies have been held in 17 cities and towns across Australia during the weekend – including the regional Victorian towns of Ballarat and Cobram, both shattered by violence against women in recent weeks.

Protestors are bearing signs with slogans including “not all men, but always a man”, “I refuse to be silent” and “how do beautiful boys become murderous men”.

In attendance is the family of Celeste Manno, a young woman murdered by her stalker and former coworker Luay Nader Sako.

Among the listed speakers are Animal Justice Party MP Georgie Purcell, sexologist Chantelle Otten, Melburnian of the Year Kon Karapanagiotidis and journalist Sherele Moody.

Premier Jacinta Allen has arrived at the rally, flanked by MP Ben Carroll and Monique Ryan.

The thousands of protestors began marching toward Federation Square at about 10.20am.

The advocacy group What Were You Wearing is a community organisation and was established by victim-survivors of sexual violence.

– Grace Baldwin

10:09 am April 28, 2024

Dutton reached out after church stabbing: Le

Independent MP Dai Le says Peter Dutton reached out to her following the Wakeley church stabbing “just to check in”, revealing that the Opposition Leader was "the only one that reached out to come to see us”.

While acknowledging Anthony Albanese had been out to Fowler previously, Ms Le told the ABC that Mr Dutton specifically called her to see how she was going.

Ms Le said the incident had been a very traumatic and challenging time for her and members of her community.

“The Opposition Leader reached out following the Wakeley incident and asked us to dinner, just to check in, to see if there are issues important to our community. I think he's the only one that reached out and came out to see us,” Ms Le told the ABC.

“This time he specifically rang me up and asked me to come along to see how I was going. And it was very stressful, David.

“You don't realise how traumatic the whole thing has been for me, and for my community and in the last few weeks.

“Talking about trauma and, I still feel it, talking to you. It's not something unless you live in that community and feel our community, you don't know how challenging it has been for us mentally and emotionally.”

9:55 am April 28, 2024

Labor urged not to alienate young men

Independent MP Dai Le says she does not support calls for a royal commission into domestic violence, questioning whether it would “do any good”, as she called on the government to ensure funding was targeted at grassroots communities.

Speaking to the ABC, the Fowler MP said governments must ensure that their policies were actually helping communities experiencing high levels of domestic violence, and said leaders must be mindful that their language did not alienate young men.

Ms Le emphasised that not all men were violent, and that governments should focus on how to include young men in society to ensure they were educated to respect and work alongside women.

“I don't know if another royal commission would do any good. I think what I think the government needs to do is to get the funding and target that to communities,” Ms Le told the ABC.

“How do do we make sure they're educated to respect and to work alongside women? We don't feel like we are saying they're the bad ones there.

“What language are we sending out to young men growing up in this day and age? Targeted programs, education, ensure that young boys and young girls work together to know that they respect one another and human beings.”