PM to discuss ‘crisis point’ issue at national meeting

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will raise domestic and sexual violence against women at a national cabinet meeting after federal MPs shared their anger and despair.

It comes in response to several allegations of sexual assaults against women and girls in schools and sporting codes over the past fortnight and the 45th woman being killed by a man known to her in Australia this year.

Community Strong MP Zali Steggall moved a motion to suspend standing orders to pause the scheduled agenda to discuss domestic and sexual violence in parliament on Thursday.

“Australian women feel angry about violence against women, institutional failures, and a culture that leaves women and girls feeling and being unsafe,” she said.

“We are at a crisis point.”

MP Allegra Spender supported the motion by her party colleague, saying women are in despair this week.

“Women are at the centre of the headlines and the stories that we know,” she said.

“These allegations must be taken seriously, and we must centre on those stories.

“We cannot minimise those stories.”

The motion was not passed and the House of Representatives continued on scheduled.

The matter was raised again during question time, with Steggall asking the prime minister what he was doing to keep women and girls safe.

Albanese said the matter was “one of the big things that we will concentrate on”.

“In every single case of violence, my thoughts are with the women involved,” he said.

“That includes the cases of sexual violence that, tragically, we have heard about again in the media this week.

“Every woman and every girl has the right to feel safe, and must be safe at all times in our workplaces, in our schools, in our sporting clubs, in our homes, and in our communities.”

Albanese added that he would hold each state and territory to account for its response to combating domestic and sexual violence at a national cabinet meeting next week.

“This is something that’s not a party political issue. This is a human issue, and particularly an issue affecting women and children,” he said.