ADDRESS TO PARLIAMENT - MOTIONS - Domestic and Family Violence
Grieving father Tony Ticehurst told the 2 May funeral for his daughter Molly: 'Every parent would like to see their child change the world, but not at this cost.' Tony always had an inkling that his daughter Molly would be somebody who would change the world. But her death, allegedly at the hands of a partner, on 22 April not only stopped Forbes, the wider central western region of New South Wales and the state but also the nation. It stopped people in their tracks and made them realise that much more needs to be done. It shocked the nation. Molly's funeral, at the local rugby field, was attended by Premier Chris Minns, and I commend him for the fact that he was at the service just a day after his father's death. That's leadership. The funeral was attended by senior police, and I know we have former senior police in this parliament. One sits right behind me—the member for Wide Bay. In my own party, the Nationals, our colleague the member for Cowper was a police officer, as was the opposition leader. Any police officer who has served any given time has been to far too many domestic violence incidents—in fact, attending one domestic violence incident is one too many.
Molly's tragic death at age 28 has brought home to many that enough is enough. There cannot be any more silence about domestic violence. At her funeral, a small card was handed out in lieu of a service booklet, and it had her beautiful picture on it; her date of birth, 12th of the fourth 1996; and the date of her tragic death, 22nd of the fourth 2024. It stated:
Loving mother of Nate, Daughter of Kate and Tony, Adored sister of Hayley, Brooke and Luke, Much loved Aunty, Niece, Cousin and Friend.
We thought of you with love today,
But that is nothing new.
We thought about you yesterday
And days before that, too.
We think of you in silence.
We often speak your name.
Now all we have are memories
And your picture in a frame.
Your memory is our keepsake
With which we'll never part.
God has you in his keeping.
We have you in our heart.
Yes, her friends and family have Molly in their hearts, but we need to, as a parliament and as a nation, have her foremost in our conscience and in our thoughts, and have Molly's memory as a driving force to do better. Men have to be better. Men have to end this gendered violence.
I note that Wagga Wagga recently had a vigil—a rally of sorts, although it was more of a coming together of our community to say, 'We are not going to accept this any longer.' It wasn't a protest by any means, but one of the most passionate speakers at that vigil was Johanna Elms. She heads up the Wagga Women's Health Centre. She spoke with clarity, she spoke eloquently and she spoke with passion. There was fire in her voice because she is very worried about the fact that they are seeing too many women seeking counselling and support.
I am pleased that the government have addressed their 12-month funding gap. The centre was not promised funding of $200,000 through the primary health network, and they were worried. I'm pleased that I, with the government, was able to provide that extended assistance for another 12 months, but it still leaves instability in the future of this vital service, and it doesn't address the three- to six-month waiting list for counselling services. In the long term, increased and ongoing funding is absolutely necessary to ensure that adequate support is available for women and their children in the Riverina when and where they most need it. It's a growing need. The Wagga Women's Health Centre has been going since the 1970s. It has decades of experience in frontline support, counselling and services. When Johanna Elms speaks, our community does—and should always—listen. Similarly, the CatholicCare Wilcannia-Forbes, which does so much vital and important work throughout the Central West, was unable to access funding through the state government, and I would impress upon anybody who has the ear of the state government that that is a vital service doing vital work and it needs every bit of government support that it can get.
I am pleased with the measures that were announced in the budget, and I acknowledge the government for that. Anything that can help and build on the work that we did as a government is to be applauded, but more needs to be done. I do note that the $925 million of support has been rebadged. The coalition called it 'escaping violence'; Labor is calling it the 'Leaving Violence Program'. I do hope that money is not going to be drained in the areas of rebadging, graphic design et cetera, because name changes mean nothing. It's the action on the ground that we need to see money being spent on.
To that end, I commend and thank CatholicCare Wilcannia-Forbes and I also applaud the work being done by the Wagga Women's Health Centre. The memory of what happened to Molly Ticehurst and other women who lost their lives far too young is an abomination. The deaths of those women is an abomination on our nation. It should strike a cord in every one of us and lead us to all know that more needs to be done. Funding is absolutely commended and worthwhile, and men can, should and must—must—do better.