“It’s clear that the status quo is not working and urgent reform is needed,” Minns told reporters.
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Minns said the calls for a royal commission in NSW were “completely understandable and really reasonable in the circumstances” and the government was “considering those calls from prominent leaders” who have led the charge to end violence against women.
NSW Labor MPs Trish Doyle and Anna Watson added their voices to calls for a royal commission but said immediate responses were imperative to address an entrenched culture.
Doyle used her inaugural speech to parliament almost a decade ago to recount her harrowing experience with domestic violence after her mother was hospitalised after a “severe beating” from her father. She said everyone was responsible for addressing violence against women.
Minns and Attorney-General Michael Daley have ordered a review of the state’s bail laws in response to the killing of Ticehurst,but Doyle said the government must also scrutinise all responses,including enabling community services that support victims.
“If someone is someone like Rosie[Batty] is calling for a royal commission in this state,then that absolutely has merit,” Doyle said. “But we can’t just have a royal commission. People want to see some measures now.”
Shellharbour MP Anna Watson said a royal commission specific to NSW would be “very helpful” in the medium term,and said the measure should be augmented by reforms such as strengthening punishments for breaches of AVOs and introducing mandatory sentencing for coercive control.
Watson said if the issue was a priority for the government,funding should match that.
A Victorian parliamentary inquiry last year heard that since the 2015 royal commission “more than $3.86 billion has been invested to transform Victoria’s family violence system” – more than every other state and territory combined.
South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas recently announced a 12-month royal commission in his state after concluding it was the best way to gather enough evidence to drive the most effective change.
Greens spokesperson for gendered abuse Abigail Boyd said the domestic and family violence sector in NSW was “dangerously underfunded”.
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“I share the frustrations of the domestic and family violence sector,who have been telling successive governments what we need to do for decades and have been met with continued and stubborn inaction,” Boyd said.
“The fact is that well-meaning words and legislative tinkering are no substitute for actually providing the funding for the evidence-based solutions experts are telling us need to be urgently implemented.”
Public Service Association general secretary Stewart Little also backed a royal commission. He said women “cannot afford to wait for those findings” and called for immediate changes to the Bail Act to deny bail for violent offenders.
Health Services Union secretary Gerard Hayes said his union was prepared to spend “as much money as needed to value-add to prevention” and described a royal commission as an opportunity to “articulate a range of matters” previously unconsidered by the public.
TheHerald on Friday called for two royal commissions: the first a national probe examining the underlying causes driving male attitudes towards women and the second a state-based inquiry examining all aspects of laws,policies and emergency services resourcing.