In the week since the Federal Budget failed to deliver any meaningful funding action on ending violence against women, five women and two children have been killed.
But Prime Minister Anthony Albanese seems convinced that his government is “throwing everything” at the issue of violence against women, a problem he once promised to end in a generation, and that he once called “a national crisis”.
“Everything” doesn’t actually look like much when you consider new funding allocated to address the issue, which amounts to approximately $717 million over the next four to five years. Compare that to the $971.6 million to be spent in just a single year on offshore detention.
A woman and her two boys, aged four and twelve, were murdered in Sydney on Monday, with a man known to the family arrested and charged with three counts of murder this morning.
In Tasmania on Monday, a man was charged with murder after the body of a woman believed to be in her 60s was found on Saturday afternoon. Yet to be formally named, the woman’s body was believed to have been in the house for weeks before being located with the 57 year old alleged murderer a resident of the same home.
In Werribee, Victoria, on Friday, a 29-year-old woman was murdered by a man with a long history of violence, who then killed himself.
Three days earlier, back in Tasmania, a man murdered a woman aged in her sixties before taking his own life. One day prior to that, a 51-year-old man who was known to police killed a woman in the ACT.
And yet, the biggest conversations regarding the Treasurer’s Federal Budget handed down last Tuesday — from much of the mainstream media and the opposition — are centring on Capital Gains Tax changes and their impact on the startup sector and family trusts.
According to Australian Femicide Watch, 29 women and nine children have been killed by violence so far this year, including now five women and two children in just the past six days.
AFW founder Sherelee Moody has highlighted the horrific statistics on social media, where she is also urging the prime minister to call a Royal Commission into the killing of women and children via a petition that has now gained more than 95,500 signatures.
Asked for his response to a petition during a radio interview on Monday morning with HIT 100.9 FM, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said: “Look, there’s Royal Commissions about everything -“
When radio presenter Christie Hayes then interjected with, “Well, I think the deaths of women are pretty paramount, wouldn’t you say?”, Albanese finalised his response, declaring that there’ll be planning and consultation with the community before moving on to the issue of building more homes.
Earlier in the conversation, thanks to prompting by Hayes, Albanese had said that “every single woman who suffers this fate is one too many” and outlined the efforts his government is taking, including adding 500 family and children violence workers, providing additional funding for legal services, and stating that it’s not an issue the government can tackle alone.
“We’re throwing everything we can at this issue,” Albanese said.
But it’s clear, from last week’s budget, that the Albanese Government is far from throwing “everything it can” at the issue.
The billions in funding the Women’s Statement noted were derived from repackaging existing funding announcements.
The $717 million in relevant new commitments we counted addresses everything from the ADF military sexual violence inquiry to community housing for young people at risk and the child support scheme reform, spread out over the next four to five years, so around $150 to $ 180 million a year. The $4.4 billion the Australian Government has contributed to addressing the issues is the cumulative amount since 2022, amounting to around $1.1 billion a year across the entire National Plan to End Violence Against Women.
Last week’s Budget also committed an additional $53 billion to defence over the next decade, amounting to $5.3 billion a year in new defence spending. That one year in additional defence spending amounts to more than what’s being outlined for the entire National Plan to End Violence Against Women invested over four years.
And to really demonstrate the capacity to throw “everything” at the issue, consider what Australia loses from fossil fuel subsidies and forgone tax revenue, with this Budget indicating it amounts to $19 billion annually, according to the Climate Council.
Clearly, the funding allocated to end violence against women and children isn’t enough because we’re far from seeing a change in the number of those murdered. Let’s not kid ourselves into believing the Prime Minister is genuinely committed to throwing “everything” at the national crisis of violence against women.
If you or someone you know are in immediate danger, call 000.
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic and family violence, call the NSW Domestic Violence Line on 1800 65 64 63 for free counselling and referrals, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
For confidential advice, support, and referrals, contact 1800 RESPECT or 13 YARN.
For information on Men’s Behaviour Change Programs operating in your local area, contact the Men’s Referral Service on 1300 766 491.