❓ Opposition questions the Premier regarding the government's handling of domestic violence, citing a specific case and perceived lack of awareness from relevant ministers. The Premier defends the government's actions and highlights investments and initiatives.
AnsweredQoN 579Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE CRISIS
SUMMIT
579. Ms L. METTAM to the Premier:
I refer to the tragic family and
domestic violence death of Lynn Cannon in December 2022. Yesterday the police
minister admitted that he had not yet received a briefing on this tragic
incident and could not explain why it took the Western Australia Police Force
over an hour to respond to her 000 calls for help, to which the Commissioner of
Police acknowledged that WAPOL had let her down.
(1) How does the
Premier expect Western Australians to believe his government is taking this
seriously when he has a police minister who was unaware of the circumstances of
a FDV death and had not sought a briefing after nine months?
(2) Why do we
have a family and domestic violence minister who could not answer simple
questions about a government initiative for GPS monitoring —
Several members interjected.
Point of Order
Dr D.J.
HONEY : Madam Speaker, I literally cannot hear the Leader of the
Liberal Party because of the noise coming from the other side.
The
SPEAKER : Members, the level of interjection whilst the Leader of the
Liberal Party was asking the question is too high. I ask people to desist. I think
it is important that we get to hear the question and then I will ask the
Premier to respond.
Questions without Notice Resumed
Ms L. METTAM : I go to the
second part of the question: why do we have a family and domestic violence
minister who cannot answer simple questions
about a government initiative for GPS monitoring to protect women and children?
SUMMIT
579. Ms L. METTAM to the Premier:
I refer to the tragic family and
domestic violence death of Lynn Cannon in December 2022. Yesterday the police
minister admitted that he had not yet received a briefing on this tragic
incident and could not explain why it took the Western Australia Police Force
over an hour to respond to her 000 calls for help, to which the Commissioner of
Police acknowledged that WAPOL had let her down.
(1) How does the
Premier expect Western Australians to believe his government is taking this
seriously when he has a police minister who was unaware of the circumstances of
a FDV death and had not sought a briefing after nine months?
(2) Why do we
have a family and domestic violence minister who could not answer simple
questions about a government initiative for GPS monitoring —
Several members interjected.
Point of Order
Dr D.J.
HONEY : Madam Speaker, I literally cannot hear the Leader of the
Liberal Party because of the noise coming from the other side.
The
SPEAKER : Members, the level of interjection whilst the Leader of the
Liberal Party was asking the question is too high. I ask people to desist. I think
it is important that we get to hear the question and then I will ask the
Premier to respond.
Questions without Notice Resumed
Ms L. METTAM : I go to the
second part of the question: why do we have a family and domestic violence
minister who cannot answer simple questions
about a government initiative for GPS monitoring to protect women and children?
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(2) Just to the first point, I thought the Minister
for the Prevention of Family and Domestic Violence dispatched the member
pretty effectively in terms of her question. She is a very effective minister.
The member was actually asking her a question that was not about her portfolio;
it was the Attorney General's area. If the member wanted to understand
how that particular program was developing, he would have been the more appropriate
minister.
I
had the honour this morning to attend the Domestic Violence Crisis Summit. I say
it was an honour because people at that forum brought forward some of
the rawest emotions from their experiences, whether individually or as a member of a family that has experienced family and
domestic violence. We know of the incredible
disease on our community, which is FDV. I know I speak on behalf of all members
of Parliament when we say that we
condemn it. We want to see it, if not eliminated, reduced as much as possible,
and we all want to see the community unite to work together against this
insidious aspect of our society. I had the honour to attend this morning with
the Deputy Premier; the Minister for Prevention of Family and Domestic Violence;
the Minister for Women's Interests, Hon Sue Ellery; and the Minister
for Police, Hon Paul Papalia. We were front and centre with our key leaders of
the public sector, specifically Commissioner Col Blanch, to meet with these
people, to discuss and to hear their concerns and understand their pain, although we can never understand it
from their perspective or feel it so viciously. What happened at that particular forum was very moving and very
powerful. I commit on behalf of my government that we will take away the
thoughts and pleas of those people at today's summit and make sure that
as a government, we recommit ourselves to ensuring that we are doing
everything we can to reduce the incidence of family and domestic violence in
our community. We cannot always be successful, but we can do our best.
We have invested over $200 million
since 2017—the largest investment in family and domestic violence
services in this state's history, which includes $84.5 million this
year and a wide range of strategies and initiatives to support victim
survivors. That includes 43 refuges and safe houses around WA. Two more refuges
are currently under construction. We have set up 17 family and domestic
violence response teams, a rapid rehousing pilot to support safe and stable
tenancies, counselling advocacy services, perpetrator interventions, outreach
services like Safe at Home and other programs that support victim survivors,
and committed around $4.5 million annually for perpetrator interventions,
including the residential Breathing Space program, a men's behaviour
change intervention.
I acknowledge Hon Simone McGurk,
the previous Minister for Prevention of Family and Domestic Violence, for the programs she put in place,
including 16 Days WA and the respectful relationships teaching support
program, which is about to continuing to elevate this issue in our community
and to make sure that we are doing everything we can to be aware of it,
identify it and respond to it. That is a conversation that we have to continue
to have right throughout our community.
When we get to a situation in
which people are impacted by family and domestic violence, we need our first
responders to be there and to be able to make the interventions that we
require. We have invested $2 million into St John Ambulance to provide it with
family and domestic service–specific training to ensure that we can
support it better—and, of course, we want our frontline services,
including our police officers, to have all
the resources they need to be able to intervene in these circumstances. It does
not always happen and we do not always get it right, but the government
is committed like none in this state's history to ensuring we do everything we can to reduce and eliminate the
incidence of family and domestic violence.
for the Prevention of Family and Domestic Violence dispatched the member
pretty effectively in terms of her question. She is a very effective minister.
The member was actually asking her a question that was not about her portfolio;
it was the Attorney General's area. If the member wanted to understand
how that particular program was developing, he would have been the more appropriate
minister.
I
had the honour this morning to attend the Domestic Violence Crisis Summit. I say
it was an honour because people at that forum brought forward some of
the rawest emotions from their experiences, whether individually or as a member of a family that has experienced family and
domestic violence. We know of the incredible
disease on our community, which is FDV. I know I speak on behalf of all members
of Parliament when we say that we
condemn it. We want to see it, if not eliminated, reduced as much as possible,
and we all want to see the community unite to work together against this
insidious aspect of our society. I had the honour to attend this morning with
the Deputy Premier; the Minister for Prevention of Family and Domestic Violence;
the Minister for Women's Interests, Hon Sue Ellery; and the Minister
for Police, Hon Paul Papalia. We were front and centre with our key leaders of
the public sector, specifically Commissioner Col Blanch, to meet with these
people, to discuss and to hear their concerns and understand their pain, although we can never understand it
from their perspective or feel it so viciously. What happened at that particular forum was very moving and very
powerful. I commit on behalf of my government that we will take away the
thoughts and pleas of those people at today's summit and make sure that
as a government, we recommit ourselves to ensuring that we are doing
everything we can to reduce the incidence of family and domestic violence in
our community. We cannot always be successful, but we can do our best.
We have invested over $200 million
since 2017—the largest investment in family and domestic violence
services in this state's history, which includes $84.5 million this
year and a wide range of strategies and initiatives to support victim
survivors. That includes 43 refuges and safe houses around WA. Two more refuges
are currently under construction. We have set up 17 family and domestic
violence response teams, a rapid rehousing pilot to support safe and stable
tenancies, counselling advocacy services, perpetrator interventions, outreach
services like Safe at Home and other programs that support victim survivors,
and committed around $4.5 million annually for perpetrator interventions,
including the residential Breathing Space program, a men's behaviour
change intervention.
I acknowledge Hon Simone McGurk,
the previous Minister for Prevention of Family and Domestic Violence, for the programs she put in place,
including 16 Days WA and the respectful relationships teaching support
program, which is about to continuing to elevate this issue in our community
and to make sure that we are doing everything we can to be aware of it,
identify it and respond to it. That is a conversation that we have to continue
to have right throughout our community.
When we get to a situation in
which people are impacted by family and domestic violence, we need our first
responders to be there and to be able to make the interventions that we
require. We have invested $2 million into St John Ambulance to provide it with
family and domestic service–specific training to ensure that we can
support it better—and, of course, we want our frontline services,
including our police officers, to have all
the resources they need to be able to intervene in these circumstances. It does
not always happen and we do not always get it right, but the government
is committed like none in this state's history to ensuring we do everything we can to reduce and eliminate the
incidence of family and domestic violence.
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