Canberra
Thank you very much and can I acknowledge the Leader of the Opposition, Tony Abbott; can I acknowledge so many Parliamentary colleagues and friends who are with us; can I acknowledge some background noise; and can I also acknowledge Andrew O'Keefe and his colleagues in the White Ribbon Foundation.
Now, I trust that I don't offend anybody when I say I would prefer if we weren't here today; if there was no need for us to come together and to wear white ribbons; there was no need for us to talk about violence against women and girls because our society no longer had this violence against women and girls.
And there's something deeply confronting about the fact that we can stand on this beautiful day, this picture-perfect day in this remarkable building in a country led by a female leader, and be here to talk about violence against women and girls and yet we do have to come together and talk about violence against women and girls because too many women and too many girls continue to feel that violence.
As a Government, as a Parliament, I believe we are united in our efforts to make a difference to the appalling statistics of violence that our nation still sees, and I could talk about the economic costs, I could talk about all of the statistics, about what this costs us as a nation, but really the most important thing is the emotional cost - what it does to the individuals who end up bearing the brunt of that violence in their daily lives.
We, as a Government, have taken steps to address violence against women and girls. We've announced a $42 million commitment in 2009 to fund initiatives such as the respectful relationships project and the 1-800 counselling service. There's a 12-year national plan that's backed by a further $44.5 million in funding, and that's about improving services for domestic violence victims, telephone support, for frontline workers, a new national centre of excellence for research and a grants program to help local communities themselves reduce violence against women and girls.
These efforts by the Government, which have been led by my colleagues Tanya Plibersek and now by Kate Ellis, are important efforts, but in many ways the most important efforts are those that are taken by individuals who come together to convey a message about how unacceptable this conduct is and how deeply we want to see change, which is why the White Ribbon movement is so important; such an important way of bringing people together; such an important way of involving men, to have them say that they believe this is wrong and that they want to say to men across the country this is wrong.
So, I welcome very much this work of the White Ribbon Foundation, the fact that we are here wearing these ribbons today, but that it is part on an ongoing challenge. I also welcome the fact that it's the subject of deep bipartisanship across this Parliament, so whilst in this Parliament we argue about so much, there is no doubt that every parliamentarian stands united in supporting this cause and united in having their voice heard against violence against women and girls.
Thank you very much.