[Theme Music Starts]

From Schwartz Media, I’m Scott Mitchell. This is 7am.

As the country demanded answers to the domestic violence crisis, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese became a focal point in all the wrong ways, when he got into a dispute with a rally organiser on Sunday.

But this week’s national cabinet meeting with state and territory leaders offered a chance to respond to the community’s concern and produce real solutions.

So what came out of that meeting? And is it enough?

Today, columnist for The Saturday Paper Paul Bongiorno on the crucial moment for Australia and whether governments are delivering on their mission to end violence against women.

It’s Friday, May 3.

[Theme Music Ends]

SCOTT:

Paul. This week, the Prime Minister called a snap meeting of National cabinet on women's safety. When it came to the day itself, though, what happened in this meeting?

PAUL:

Well, Scott, Anthony Albanese did call this national cabinet, actually the first for the year to bring together the state and territory leaders to address what he admits is a national crisis in domestic violence and women's safety.

And in the lead up, there were huge protests and rallies around the country calling on governments to do more. Some had called for a royal commission, others the strengthening of bail laws, while others had pointed to deficiencies in frontline funding for shelters and more social support for women leaving domestic violence.

Albanese acknowledged that the rallies were to demand, quote, the governments of all levels must do better, including my own, including every state and territory government.

Well, that public anger was palpable leading up to the meeting on Wednesday. Something not lost on the premiers or chief ministers, all willing to be seen responding, and all undertaking to further examine solutions to bring back to another national cabinet in three months' time.

But Scott, we are beginning to see something of a blame game, with Albanese claiming on Thursday, he's shovelled out millions for more front line stuff, only to see the states and territories failing to so-far employ them.

Audio excerpt – Anthony Albanese:

“Today's national cabinet was a constructive discussion with the premiers and chief ministers, together with the Family and Domestic Violence Commissioner…”

PAUL:

Well, after the virtual national cabinet, Albanese emerged with a suite of announcements. The centrepiece was $925 million over five years for a program called Leaving Violence for women and their children escaping violent situations.

Audio excerpt – Anthony Albanese:

“So today, we can announce the government will invest $925 million over five years, so be included in the budget.”

PAUL:

He said. The biggest thing the government could do to help women escape domestic violence was to give them financial and practical support.

Audio excerpt – Anthony Albanese:

“We know that when a woman is killed by a violent partner, too often some people will say, why didn't she leave? And it's because of there not being options. Which is why it is very important that we don't put people in a situation where they can't afford to leave.”

PAUL:

Those eligible will receive a $5,000 payment along with referral services, risk assessments and safety planning. The other focus featuring in the announcements was combating misogyny online.

Audio excerpt – Anthony Albanese:

“Today also, we're announcing a suite of online measures to help combat toxic male extremist views about women online.”

PAUL:

The government will back the East Safety Commissioner to run a pilot program for age restrictions on certain content, which has been dubbed a porn passport.

Audio excerpt – Anthony Albanese:

“We don't underestimate how difficult this is. We will be seeking cooperation wherever we can, but we need to take action.”

PAUL:

Albanese said he wanted to give parents assurances the government was committed to making the internet a less misogynistic place for young men.

The government will also look to tougher laws targeting deep fake porn and for anti doxxing reform. And that's to protect women from having their details maliciously published. Ultimately, Albanese said he knew this was only a step on the path to ending violence against women.

Audio excerpt – Anthony Albanese:

“But, I don't think any of us should be satisfied until we're not talking about those issues.”

SCOTT:

Okay, Paul. So how has this package been received? Has this national cabinet delivered something that lives up to the scale of public desire to see some change here?

PAUL:

Well, it's got some in the women's safety sector have said this is a positive step. Renee Carr from the organisation Fair Agenda, said the increase in the living violence payments was positive but said services remain underfunded, with 52,000 women a year turned away from legal help.

Audio excerpt – Renee Carr:

“It’s a positive first step but on its own it’s nowhere near enough. Particularly it doesn’t do enough to address the many many services who aren’t able to assist the women already reaching out to them…”

PAUL:

The Greens Larissa Waters was more scathing in her assessment. She described the response as deeply underwhelming.

Audio excerpt – Larissa Waters:

“Let's see real leadership and let's actually start to drive that cultural change leading from the top, whilst also supporting grassroots organisations so that we don't have to wait until the end of a ten year plan to see the numbers of women murdered start to come down.”

PAUL:

She said front line support services had called for $1 billion a year to be able to help everyone who seeks it and, quote, the federal government is providing just under half that.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers, well, he seemed to anticipate these criticisms earlier on the same day, telling Our Breakfast he understood that we need to do more and we need to do it better.

Audio excerpt – Jim Chalmers:

“And if there are ways that we can provide more investment or invest differently in these really important services to keep women safe, then obviously that's something that we're prepared to consider. And that's one of the reasons why.”

PAUL:

Chalmers noted that in Labor's first two budgets, they have added $2.3 billion in funding to the National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children. But, quote:

Audio excerpt – Jim Chalmers:

“Women still aren't safe in our community, in our society.”

SCOTT:

So politically, then, how does this issue break down? Because everyone agrees that more has to be done to end domestic violence. But what kind of debate are we seeing over how to do that?

PAUL:

Well, the Coalition's been sending out mixed messages on this. It was not critical of the package that was released. But on the one hand, Liberal Senator Hollie Hughes was last week on Sky News blaming the failure to stop domestic violence on progressive woke culture, saying that blaming men for domestic violence was wrong.

Audio excerpt – Hollie Hughes:

“As a straight white male, you are condemned at the moment and we saw it in the MeToo movement that all straight white men are some kind of demon, and that all women should be believed and...”

PAUL:

And that to solve the problem, we needed to give more credit to good blokes.

Audio excerpt – Hollie Hughes:

“There are some really good blokes out there. You know, my husband's a great bloke…you know, I'm sure both you and Matt are great blokes.”

PAUL:

Hmm. Hardly solves the problem, but anyway. That was clearly aimed at courting reactionary right wing commentators and certainly sounds tone deaf to me. Then we had Jane Hume.

Audio excerpt – Jane Hume:

“The women out there are hurting, and they want action, not words. They want actions, not platitudes.”

PAUL:

She's been criticising the Labor government for holding what she describes as more talk fest and demanded greater action, and also made a very big point of criticising the Prime Minister for his appearance at a rally in Canberra on Sunday.

Audio excerpt – Jane Hume:

“To use his own words back upon him: not so much a tin ear as a wall of concrete.”

PAUL:

Now, you know, this was a reference to something Albanese himself said back in 2021. At that time, Scott Morrison had responded to the Women's March for justice rally attended by Brittany Higgins, by saying that in other countries, these protesters would be met by bullets.

Well, Albanese, in parliament leapt to his feet to accuse Morrison of the same hard set misunderstanding of the issues as a wall of concrete, he accused the then prime minister of.

But I've just say Jane Hume's attack is motivated as much by the liberals unrequited fury at Higgins, for what they see is her significant contribution to their 2022 loss and Labor's support of her as it is for the opportunity to score points.

And on that, Scott, Peter Dutton was handed another issue on a platter when a released immigration detainee was arrested after an alleged brutal attack on a 73 year old woman robbery and home invasion in Perth this week.

SCOTT:

After the break… the opposition goes on the attack over immigration.

[Advertisement]

SCOTT:

Paul. The country has been absorbed this week by the domestic violence crisis. But the opposition also found time to attack the government over immigration. What's been said?

PAUL:

Well, Scott, this began with the shocking home invasion. It was allegedly committed by a man who is a former immigration detainee. And it has once again led to calls for the sacking of Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neill and Immigration Minister Andrew Giles.

Peter Dutton says the government's lost control of the situation after assurances were given in Parliament that the ministers were doing everything in their power to keep the community safe. From the 150 detainees released after the High Court ruled indefinite administrative detention was unlawful.

Well, Jim Chalmers got a taste of how this campaign will go. When he went on the Today Show to sell his reforms to foreign investment rules. Karl Stefanovic ignored the economy, instead asking the Treasurer “Does the government have blood on its hands?” Oh, Chalmers said the question wasn't helpful. In my view, he could have said it was an outrageous, cheap shot. Instead, the treasurer expressed his sympathy for the victims and said it made the government all the more determined to make the system as good as it could be.

The alleged perpetrator had not previously committed any violent crimes, and this is a mitigating factor in the Commonwealth not opposing bail for the violation of his curfew conditions. The opposition queries if the perpetrator was wearing an ankle bracelet. Sources confirmed on Thursday he wasn't, but the Liberals would know these ankle bracelets sound legally dubious if they're used on people released from detention, especially if they've not committed a crime after already having served their time.

The government, pending more legislation tightening this loophole, is anxious to avoid another High Court challenge. And you may remember, the Greens and the Coalition are holding up that legislation in the senate. It's a risky political move by the Liberals, but they do, in the short term, get the benefit of creating the impression the government is flummoxed on the issue.

SCOTT:

Right, Paul. So what is the feeling about this week then, from the government's perspective? Because it's found itself under a lot of scrutiny and criticism for both of these issues. Have they felt their response has played to the public?

PAUL:

Well, there is a feeling in the government that Albanese let his guard down by being irritated with his treatment at the rally, giving the opposition the opening they took and without doubt, the immigration issue playing into community safety and fuelling xenophobic sentiment is a challenge that demands calm but more assuring handling than we're getting, and is all the more pressure on Jim Chalmers to come up with a circuit breaker in the budget in just over a week's time.

SCOTT:

And so finally, Paul, this week was a big test, I suppose, of the government's responsiveness, because government isn't just about what you plan to do. Of course. It's about responding to crises out there in the community. Do you think the government was able to sort of kick into gear in a way that met community expectations, or has it been wedded to plans that have been in train for a while now?

PAUL:

Well, you know, Scott, I'm reminded of a quote that was attributed to John Howard, something he made privately to a group of journalists once I was one of them. That government is like eating a crap sandwich. It's how you do it and how quickly that counts.

On domestic violence, I do believe Albanese has stepped up, and only the most antagonistic would demand he produce a magic wand. On immigration and the detainees, the government clearly doesn't want to inflame the situation. But still, as I say, it could come up with more assurance for the community in actions as well as word.

SCOTT:

Paul, thank you so much for your time. So good to have you.

PAUL:

Thank you, Scott. Bye.

[Advertisement]

[Theme Music Starts]

SCOTT:

Also in the news today …

Lawyers for One Nation Leader Pauline Hanson say she was speaking rhetorically when she told Greens Senator Mehreen Faruqi to “piss off back to Pakistan”.

Closing arguments have been heard in the federal court, where Senator Faruqi launched a racial discrimination case over a 2022 tweet by Senator Hanson.

And

The Manhattan district attorney’s office said yesterday 282 pro-palestinian student protesters have been arrested in New York as protests in support of Gaza spread to about 50 universities in the United States.

Demonstrations have also spread to four University campuses in Australia, with Pro-Palestinian students saying they will continue until their demands for universities to divest from activities the students allege support Israel’s war effort are met.

7am is a daily show from Schwartz Media and The Saturday Paper.

It’s produced by Kara Jensen-Mackinnon, Cheyne Anderson and Zoltan Fesco.

Our senior producer is Chris Dengate. Our technical producer is Atticus Bastow.

Our host is Ashlynne McGhee. Sarah McVeigh is our head of audio. Erik Jensen is our editor-in-chief.

Mixing by Andy Elston, Travis Evans and Atticus Bastow.

Our theme music is by Ned Beckley and Josh Hogan of Envelope Audio.

And the editor of this show is me, Scott Mitchell. Thanks so much for listening.

Ashlynne McGhee will be back with you again on Monday.

[Theme Music Ends]