Prime Minister Anthony Albanese gave a fiery speech at a rally in Canberra protesting violence against women, demanding widespread change at all levels of Australian society and calling on protesters to hold him “accountable” for the actions of his government.
In a speech that was sometimes met with boos and interruptions, Albanese said Australia needed to change its “culture”, “attitudes” and “legal system” to end the scourge of violence against women that has reportedly already taken its toll. life of 26 people. women this year.
“We are here today to demand that governments at all levels must do better, including mine and all state and territory governments,” he told the large crowd.
Anthony Albanese gave a fiery speech at a rally in Canberra (pictured) on Sunday and said Australia needed to change its culture and attitudes to end violence against women.
Crowds gathered at Parliament (pictured) to take part in the demonstration as the Prime Minister described violence against women as a “national crisis”.
‘We are also here to say that society, and Australia, must do better.
‘We need to change the culture, we need to change attitudes, we need to change the legal system.
“We need to change the approach of all governments because it is not enough to support the victims, we must focus on the perpetrators and focus on prevention.”
Albanese suggested that he had asked the rally organizers for permission to speak, but that they had rejected him.
“We asked to talk, myself and (Finance Minister) Katy (Gallagher) and they told us that’s not possible,” he said.
“And that’s okay, we respect the organizers’ right to do so.”
A woman standing next to the prime minister chimed in: “That’s a lie.”
Earlier, rally organizer Sarah Williams began the rally by sharing her own experiences of family and domestic violence, as well as homelessness.
In an awkward and tense exchange, Ms. Williams demanded that the politicians present commit to the organization’s demands and declare that the recent spate of murders of women by men was a national emergency.
However, Labor ministers appeared indifferent and confused, initially refusing to lead the demonstration, a move that sparked jeers and jeers from the audience.
‘Why are you here?’ shouted one protester in the crowd.
“What a shame,” shouted another.
Albanese was booed and jeered by some of the crowd during his speech.
The Prime Minister acknowledged that all levels of government must address domestic violence differently
The message was loud and clear at rallies across Australia over the weekend. Pictured is the Canberra rally on Sunday.
Albanese spoke about some of the actions his government had taken to address the problem, including the introduction of domestic violence payments.
One protester interrupted, saying “it’s not enough.”
The Prime Minister responded: “I agree that it is not enough.” I said that. We need to do more.’
Even as her words were punctuated by jeers and jeers from the crowd, Albanese continued her speech and pledged that the government she led would redouble its efforts to counter gender-based violence.
Albanese said he would call a national cabinet meeting on Wednesday to discuss the issue of domestic and family violence with state and territory premiers.
Albanese ended his speech by calling the problem a “national crisis” and said one or two months of funding would not be enough to solve it.
“It’s also up to men to change men’s behavior,” he said.
“Yes, people need to be held accountable and I will be responsible for what my government does.”
The Prime Minister then headed towards his waiting motorcade, subsequently leaving Capital Hill and the crowd of 5,000 gathered on the front lawn.
“It is up to men to change men’s behavior too,” the Prime Minister told the crowd.
Earlier, protesters traveled from Commonwealth Park, on the north shore of Lake Burley Griffin, to the front lawns of Commonwealth Parliament House, several thousand protesters chanting and brandishing signs reading “26 women murdered this year” and “It’s enough”.
The protest was coordinated by what were you wearinga community organization that advocates against gender-based violence and calls for increased funding for domestic and sexual violence services.
The nonprofit also calls for better reporting options for those experiencing family violence and new rules that prevent media outlets from publishing images of women killed by men for 48 hours after the murder.
State and federal governments face renewed pressure to take more action to end domestic violence after 26 women were allegedly murdered by men in the first 115 days of the year.
In addition to the protest in the country’s capital, demonstrations have also been held in Melbourne, Brisbane and several regional centres.
Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan (pictured) was among several state and federal politicians attending a protest against violence against women in Melbourne.
Thousands of protesters marched and rallied (pictured) across Australia over the weekend to demand an end to violence against women.
Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan and her deputy Ben Carroll, as well as federal Attorney General Mark Dreyfus, joined the rally in Melbourne.
An estimated 15,000 people attended Melbourne.
“Today we march for all the victims and for ourselves and our future,” said one organizer.
“This is a very moving and stressful event.”
Queensland Premier Steven Miles and Opposition Leader David Crisafulli attended the Brisbane event.
“Today it’s fantastic to see so many Queenslanders supporting those Queenslanders, sending a message that that type of behavior is simply not acceptable in our state or our society,” Mr Miles said.
‘I think men should be defenders too. We need to support the women of our state, we need to send a signal that we do not accept violence and we need to tell other men that that type of behaviour, as well as coercive control, is simply not acceptable.’
‘No More: National Rally Against Gender-Based Violence’ rallies were held in Sydney, Hobart and Adelaide on Saturday afternoon.
Queensland Premier Steven Miles (pictured) praised the people of his state for attending rallies in Brisbane to support the cause.
Molly Ticehurst (pictured) was allegedly murdered by her ex-boyfriend Daniel Billings in the central western New South Wales town of Forbes on Monday.
Former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and his wife Lucy attended, as well as New South Wales Premier Chris Minns and MP Rose Jackson.
Three women died over the past week, including mother Molly Ticehurst, 28, in Forbes, regional New South Wales, and Emma Bates, 49, in Cobram, near the New South Wales border. South and Victoria.
A third woman, Erica Hay, a 30-year-old mother of four, was found dead after a house fire in Warnbro, south of Perth, at 1am on Friday.
Five women were stabbed to death in the Westfield Bondi Junction attack by a man three weeks ago. A security guard also died.
Demonstrations, organized by advocacy group What Were You Wearing, also took place in Newcastle and Ballarat on Friday.
More are planned to take place in Melbourne, Perth, Bendigo, Sunshine Coast, Geelong, Brisbane, Coffs Harbour, Canberra, Gold Coast, Orange, Wagga Wagga and Combram on Sunday.
New South Wales Premier Chris Minns (pictured left) and Minister of State for Housing Rose Jackson (pictured right) march at a rally in Sydney.