TOPICS: Minister Plibersek discusses the launch of Our Ways – Strong Ways – Our Voices; Lake Cargelligo shooting, President Herzog visit.
BRIDGET BRENNAN: Well to breaking news this morning. The Federal government is today launching the first dedicated plan to address violence against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and children. The Minister for Social Services, Tanya Plibersek, joins us now from Sydney. Good morning to you, Minister.
TANYA PLIBERSEK, MINISTER FOR SOCIAL SERVICES: Good morning.
BRENNAN: We've known, Minister, that for, oh, you're in Canberra, I apologise. We've known for such a long time that there is a horrific rate of violence against Indigenous women in this country. Scores of murdered and missing Aboriginal women as well. What's different in this plan? Because Indigenous women have contributed to previous plans before, how will this make a difference?
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: Well, this is a very important next step. It's not to say that there hasn't been important work going on up to now in communities right around Australia, but this national plan has the support of every state and territory government and the Commonwealth government. It comes with substantial additional funding, and it charts out how we really reduce the unacceptably, shockingly high rates of violence against Aboriginal women and children into the future. It says that we need to prioritise delivery of programs that are locally designed, locally delivered, locally staffed, because Aboriginal communities themselves know what works in their communities. But it also says our big mainstream systems like health, education, policing and justice need to reform themselves as well so they are better fit for purpose. It also comes with over $200 million of additional funding that will make a real difference on the ground as it begins to flow out from the first of July. And that means programs like, literally being able to go to an Aboriginal woman who is in a situation of domestic violence and say, how can we help you safely leave? Now, that in a city area is hard enough, but if you're in a tiny, remote community and you need to fly in to help someone stay safe, you can imagine how much more complex that work is. It means setting up healing programs for adolescent boys. It means, you know, working through playgroups, connecting young mums to elders to help support them as they make some of these really difficult decisions about keeping their families safe. It will make a real difference on the ground. It comes on top of about, almost a doubling of funding for family violence prevention legal services a couple of years ago. It comes on top of $267 million of extra funding in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Action Plan under the National Plan on Violence Against Women and their Children. So, it's not that there hasn't been effort here before. There has been important effort made. This brings that work together and supercharges it.
BRENNAN: One of the issues you mentioned there is police and justice systems around the country. You hear from Aboriginal survivors and families of victims as well, that they've had a terrible time in the legal system, that things weren't reported properly, investigated properly, that coroners reports were inadequate. Is that part of the plan too? Because that seems to be really central to people's concerns.
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: Well, the important thing about this plan is that it's not just a Commonwealth government plan. All of the states and territories have signed on to the plan as well. And what it says for the states and territories and the systems they run is that they need to work better with Aboriginal women and communities to make sure that the systems that the states and territories run are also fit for purpose. And of course that covers policing, justice, child protection, the day-to-day delivery of refuges and those frontline services for women, has responsibility for us too, as a Commonwealth government to reform ourselves. Our big investment in recent times has been the Leaving Violence Payment that's helped over ten and a half thousand people with payments of up to $5,000, but we need to make sure that that program is meeting the needs of Aboriginal women and their families as well. So, there's work in here for all of us. This report is important because it comes after many years of calls for these types of changes. So, for decades now, Aboriginal women have been saying, our problems are different, our communities are different, our life experiences are different, our solutions need to be different. We've listened to that. It's written by an incredible group of leaders in their communities, led by Associate Professor Muriel Bamblett, who's done an enormous amount of work to deliver this Our Voices, Our Voices plan. And I think it really sets out a very positive path for the future.
BRENNAN: Yeah, I love Aunty Muriel's work. I want to ask you about the case of Sophie Quinn, her auntie, who was also shot dead, her friend as well, another man who was also shot in that terrible case in Lake Cargelligo last month. Why don't we have a national mourning for someone like Sophie Quinn? An Aboriginal woman who was seven months pregnant. We don't hear from very many politicians eulogising her or speaking about her life and her legacy. I know, I know you mentioned it, but I mean, is that part of the problem as well? When it's other Australian women, we hear about it in Parliament. When it's Aboriginal women, we don't.
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: I think a lot of people would say over the years that the voices of Aboriginal women and communities have not been heard sufficiently in this debate and that the, when we talk about the issues of family, domestic and sexual violence, the experiences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women have been talked about less than they should have been. As you said at the beginning of this interview, the statistics are shocking. An Aboriginal woman is seven times more likely to die in a domestic homicide, 27 times more likely to end up in hospital, 41 times more likely to end up in hospital if she's in a rural or remote community. That is not acceptable. And today we'll have Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and men and young people from all around Australia coming to Canberra to acknowledge the important next step we're taking with this plan.
BRENNAN: Minister, on another issue, ugly scenes in Sydney last night at that protest against the visit of the Israeli President. Has this visit inflamed community tensions which were already very, very heightened? And was this protest handled properly by the New South Wales Government?
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: Well, we always understood that this visit might be controversial in some quarters. I mean, there's even parts of the Jewish community who've made clear that they didn't want this visit to proceed. I would ask the Australian community just to take a deep breath and reflect on the reason for the visit. Fifteen people have been murdered in Australia's worst domestic terrorist event, and there's a grieving community saying that this visit will bring them comfort. Surely, as Australians, we can just take a deep breath and allow that if it brings comfort to some people, they should be allowed that comfort at a time like this. I'm not going to comment on the specifics of the marches. I mean, I think people absolutely have a right to protest in this country to make their points peacefully. I think the protest organisers, when both the police and the courts said to them, yes, you can protest, but you can either do it in a stationary way here at Town Hall, or if you want to march, you can march through a different part of the city. Should have heeded that advice. But of course, some of the videos that we've seen have been very concerning and I expect that they'll be investigated.
BRENNAN: Tanya Plibersek, thanks for your time on News Breakfast.
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: Thank you.
