This morning I was privileged to speak at the 'Enoughis Enough' Women and Children Matter rally on Warner's Bay Foreshore. The rally was part of the global 16 days of activism campaign against gender-based violence.

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This is what I said:



I am proud to be here with you all this morning, as together we say Enough is Enough.

I am proud to acknowledge the traditional custodians of this land and these waters the Awabakal People - and I pay my respects to Elders past, present and emerging and I extend that respect to any who are gathered with us this morning.

I am proud to stand alongside the other distinguished speakers today, and to be here with all of you, many of whom are here because of your passionate and costly advocacy for change. Thank you for what you do.

I am proud to be here as a Member of the Labor Party. Today is not a day for party-politic-ing we must all unite together from our different political perspectives, on this issue which traverses every divide in Australian society, indeed every divide across every society around the world. But it was the Labor Government in the 1980s, building on what was then known as the Womens Refuge Movement that developed the National Agenda for Women.

We already knew that our homes should be places of safety, places of security, places in which we could raise a family, or share life with friends and neighbours. We already knew that we needed an Australia which was free from violence in the home, violence in the work place, violence in the social spaces that we inhabit, and in the late night walks home through the city.

The Hawke-Keating Governments National Committee on Violence Against Women ran for three years in the early 1990s.The fruit of that committee (some of you will remember it, some of you will have participated in it), was the National Strategy on Violence Against Women. So from the national committee we got a national strategy! It doesnt sound like much, but it was a start. And I am proud to be part of the Party that made that start.

And of course, what was going on in Australia women who had always known that violence against them and their children was wrong, but who were now beginning to believe that it was possible that it could be ended: women who were beginning to say enough is enough; men who had always known that violence against women and children was wrong, but who had felt trapped in a set of social norms, trapped in a society in which men could not call out what was wrong: men who were beginning to say enough is enough -was also going on in other places around the world.

In 1993 the United Nations General Assembly unanimously passed the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women. I was in my 20s when that Declaration was passed. In some ways it seems like a life time ago! I remember that declaration. I remember the hope that came with it. The sense that change was finally coming, a change that would affect me, and every woman in Australia, and around the world.

And yet here we are today. This morning I am proud of many things, and I am pleased to be here with you. But I am notproud that what was hoped for back in the early 1990s, back in the days of the United Nations Declaration, back in those days which seemed to me as a woman in my 20s to be filled with such promise and potential; I am not proud that we are still where we are today, here in Australia.

1 in 6 women have experienced physical or sexual violence by a current or previous partner. That is the statistic. And behind that statistic are 1.6 million women. 1 in 4 women have experienced emotional abuse by a current or previous partner. And behind that statistic are 2.2 million women. Enough is Enough. 1 in 5 women have experienced sexual violence. That is 1.7 million women.

I dont apologise for rehearsing these statistics again. Because each of those statistics points to real people, real situations. And thats why we say Enough is Enough this morning

1 in 6 women were physically or sexually abused before the age of 15. And 1 in 9 men were physically or sexually abused before the age of 15. Something is wrong. Something is seriously wrong, and we say Enough is Enough. More than 1 in 3 murders in Australia are directly linked to family and domestic violence. That is why we say Enough is Enough this morning.

We dont just think it quietly to ourselves no, we say it. We dont just say it in the company of a few people who we already know agree with us no, we say it publicly, loudly, confidently. Because Enough is Enough.

I am impatient for change. I know that you are as well. Enough is Enough isnt just a catch phrase that can be rolled off the tongue. It is a call to action.

Enough is Enough means no more disrespecting women and girls. Not in the work place, not in the school play ground or college campus, not in the pub, not in the home, not in the Parliament of our State or of our Nation. Zero tolerance from now on. Calling out the perpetrators, naming it for what it is. Recognising that too many times it is the beginning of what will later be more sinister, later be more physical.This is a call to action. No more disrespecting women and girls because they are women and girls. It has to stop.

Enough is Enough means no more of those jokes and comments. It means no more sexist language. It means no more dont mind him thats just the way he is, nothing will change him, he doesnt really mean what he says. Words have consequences. It means that we will not tolerate those words any more. This is a call to action.

Enough is Enough means no more male control and power. No more put-downs and controlling behaviour.Enough is Enough means no more social norms and attitudes that perpetuate stereo types that condone the beginnings of what can later become violence; it means no more Australian men say it this way, act that way just get used to it.

Enough is Enough means that every girl and every boy needs to know clearly that violence against women and children is never the fault of the woman, never the fault of the child. And that violence against women and children is never acceptable.

When we saw that too many people were dying from smoking-related illnesses, the Quit campaign made huge progress; when we understood the role of alcohol in road accidents and deaths, road safety campaigns were powerfully effective. When we became aware of the HIV/AIDS virus we took action with the grim reaper campaign.

I might not like the fact that the cameras are not going to be clearly signed as a safety reminder and as a deterrent, but we are seeing it now this month with mobile phones in cars. We know that the risks of an accident are far greater if you are focused on your phone and not on the road.

Smoking, alcohol, HIV/AIDS, mobile phones in cars friends we know how to do this! And we say, Enough is Enough.

We need to have those tough conversations about men and masculinity, about women and their fundamental equality, there fundamental liberty, integrity and dignity, about children and their fundamental rights to security and safety.

Dont whisper this. Shout it. Name it. Hope for it. Work for it. We need an Australia in which all relationships are built on respect and equality; where violence is always wrong, and never the fault of the victim, never the fault of the survivor, never the fault of the seriously injured, or of the murdered.

Friends I am here to join you as we say together, Enough IS Enough.



You can find out more about the Enough is Enough Movement here.