The NSW Opposition is calling on the Minns Labor Government to take strong and urgent action on domestic violence, after it delayed strengthening the state’s bail laws.
Liberal and Nationals MPs were prepared to pass the Government’s new bail bill through Parliament this week, in order to increase protections for women and children as soon as possible.
But Labor and the Greens refused to back the move, which means the changes won’t be looked at for at least another month.
NSW Nationals Leader Dugald Saunders said we need swift and decisive action when it comes to addressing the scourge of gendered violence gripping the state.
“We all know the shameful statistics that almost 30 women have lost their lives at the hands of a former or current partner this year, and our communities are calling for help,” Mr Saunders said.
“The Government didn’t want to work with us on our proposed bill last week, and now it doesn’t want to work with us on its own proposal this week, which begs the question, what are we waiting for? Every day that goes past is another day that women in NSW go unprotected.”
Member for Coffs Harbour Gurmesh Singh said the Premier needs to put people’s needs before politics.
“We have heard of the tragedies that have occurred across NSW. We know it can be harder for women to leave abusive relationships when they live in regional areas because they often have nowhere else to go. We simply can’t continue to sit on our hands,” Mr Singh said.
“The women in our community want us to work together on this issue, but unfortunately we aren’t seeing the level of bipartisanship or urgency from the Government that we need to deal with this important issue.”
