White Ribbon Day marked the annual anti-domestic violence campaign last Friday and was the first of 16 consecutive days which will focus on the crime.
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in the lead up to the day Federal Labor member for Lindsay Emma Husar opened up about her personal experience of domestic and family violence in a speech to Parliament that left her colleagues in tears.
Commenting on Monday, the Deputy Speaker and Parkes Federal MP Mark Coulton commended Ms Husar on her courage.
“That was a very emotional thing for her to tell the Australian people of her circumstances and the circumstances around her mother. It was a very powerful speech and moment in Parliament.
“That just goes to show that this is a shocking crime that is in all levels of our society and I think by her having such a personal story has maybe helped other people to see that it’s not acceptabe to treat others in such a way.
“I knew what she was going to say – the leader of the Labor Party in the House had given me the heads up – so I made sure that [the house] remained in a very respectful way. And obviously when everyone realised that she was making such a personal speech they were very respectful.
“If it doesn’t impact on people personally, it impacts on the people that we represent and we have an obligation to make sure it gets stamped out,” he said.
