Domestic Violence - Hannah Clarke

Ms WELLS (Lilley) (16:12): Today in this place we mourn the loss of Hannah Clarke, an active and dedicated citizen of Brisbane, and her three children, Aaliyah, Laianah and Trey, all of whom were slain at the hands of a monster who should have known better. Today news has broken in Brisbane that an 11-month-old baby girl has died at the hands of a male known to her—again, she was someone who should have been protected when she was at her most vulnerable. The things that are happening on our streets are everyone's nightmare and it is everyone's business to fix it. It falls on us in this place and on our neighbours to join together and say that marriage is not ownership, a wife is not a possession and our children are not pawns who can be weaponised or slain in adult games. We cannot tolerate this anymore.

On the day of the murders last week I called out Fox News when they said that this evil murderer had died alongside his three children. Many have called out Bettina Arndt for enabling these toxic and dangerous attitudes to continue, with her 20 years of horrific work and her particularly abhorrent comments over the weekend. This government has on its books two reports with over 90 recommendations to act for survivors of family violence. They could act today. These could be the Hannah Clarke amendments. I call on them to do that because this is everybody's nightmare playing out in our streets and it is everybody's business to fix it.