Reclaim the night still more relevant than ever
Linda Burney on ABC Illawarra Breakfast with Melinda James - Thursday, 31 October 2019
MELINDA JAMES: You’ll be here tonight. You’ll be speaking will you or are you just joining the march?
LINDA BURNEY, SHADOW MINISTER FOR FAMILIES AND SOCIAL SERVICES, SHADOW MINISTER FOR INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIANS, MEMBER FOR BARTON: I have been given the enormous honour of leading the march in Wollongong tonight and speaking at the rally. And it’s the second time I’ve been down to Reclaim the Night down in Wollongong and I just have to say that the fact that it’s been such a serious issue in Wollongong and is taken seriously is a credit to the community.
JAMES: It started back – is my recollection – I think in the UK – way back in the late 70s.
BURNEY: Yeah, so I think it was about maybe almost 50 years ago. And it started in the city of Leeds.
JAMES: And to think that people feel it’s still necessary – what do you think it means these days – the Reclaim the Night March and rally?
BURNEY: Well, I listened carefully to what you were saying and it’s just really sobering to think it’s still such a necessary thing to do – an open demonstration of the community saying that we still have a long way to go, in terms of domestic and family violence, and obviously, the point that you made at the start – the chief victims of this terrible scourge across society are women. And it just seems that there has been so much effort put into it from community groups from governments; from the non-government sector, and yet it is still such a huge issue in Australia.
JAMES: There have been some absolutely dreadful examples in Victoria in particular, of women being attacked and killed on the streets while walking at night. What were your thoughts when Victorian police had to reframe what they were saying about whether – how careful women had to be when they were walking alone at night.
BURNEY: The examples in Victoria have been shocking. Young women being attacked by people that they don’t know and I think that it really did bring to the nation’s attention just how horrendous that this crime is. And we’ve also seen some pretty awful attacks in Sydney and the Illawarra as well. But the other thing to think about is it’s not just the women who are killed, it’s the women who are hospitalised; that end up with permanent disability; brain injury in particular; and also the intergenerational trauma it causes for children who witness or who are also victims of violence as well. It’s not something that is just the physical crime, there can be so many different forms of violence: intimidation; emotional; financial; people being isolated; people being physically attacked; people being psychologically ruined. These are the things that we need to think about, as well.
JAMES: Do you know much about – or has it been brought to your attention – the push for the nation’s first trauma recovery centre, led by the people here in the Illawarra, advocates for the prevention of violence towards women?
BURNEY: I’m not familiar with that, but it’s something that I’d really like to hear about. I mean, part of the portfolio responsibility that I have in the Labor Party along with Julie Collins is this issue of family violence. And in particular, the way in which governments can make sure that resources are pushed to the frontline. I mean, it’s really important research – it’s really important to understand the issue. But what is terribly lacking we know, is the availability of places for women and families to go when they need a safe place. And also, you know, the way in which policing takes place. This is a really complex issue. And it requires both state and federal governments working together. But what’s critical – and this is why Reclaim the Night is so fantastic in Wollongong – it’s about a local community owning the issue and being prepared to do something about it.
JAMES: Linda Burney, just while I have you as well, we of course just had the Minister for Indigenous Australians Ken Wyatt yesterday appoint Marcia Langton and Tom Calma to lead this group that’s going to put forward various options for how we can include an Indigenous voice to government. What are your thoughts on the matter? Already some have attacked this push yet again and the attacks become more high profile, I suppose, saying it’s divisive – it will divided the nation on the basis of race. What are your thoughts about the voice to government, and how the process is unfolding?
BURNEY: Well, the arguments being put forward by the nay-sayers that it’s going to divide the nation is just ridiculous. What the Uluru Statement asked for is a very modest ask and that is an advisory body to the parliament, designed by the parliament. And people need to understand what the facts are here. The Labor Party has had a very firm position that we embrace the Uluru Statement. What the Government is proposing is not what the Uluru Statement asked for. The Uluru Statement asked for an advisory body to the parliament. And what the government has put forward is a process to design a legislated voice to the government. The other thing that Uluru asked for was for the voice to be enshrined in the constitution and the Prime Minister has rejected that notion. So I think there’s a long way to go …
JAMES: And what is it Labor’s position that it should be enshrined in the constitution?
BURNEY: Yes, it’s Labor’s position that it should be enshrined in the constitution, but I have said – and I think that Ken Wyatt as the Minister is a very decent person. I have said on behalf of my party, that Labor will work collaboratively with the government. This can’t be done without a bipartisan effort. The co-design process, which is what you’ve just spoken about, that Marcia Langton and Tom Calma will lead, is something that the Labor Party will listen to and take its direction from.
JAMES: Alright, Linda Burney, thank you so much for joining us this morning.
ENDS
LINDA BURNEY
TRANSCRIPT - THURSDAY, 31 OCTOBER 2019