Question Time

Royal Commission into Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA (Hartley—Leader of the Opposition) (16:30): My question is to the Premier. Does the Premier take responsibility for South Australia's response to domestic violence? With your leave, sir, and that of the house, I will explain.

Leave granted.

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA: In today's press conference, Natasha Stott Despoja claimed that 'South Australia once led the nation in this area and we are now way behind. The sector is fragmented, crisis driven and lacking leadership'.

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Premier) (16:31): I thank the Leader of the Opposition for his question on what is a really important day for the state, one that I hope proves in the long term to be a bit of a turning point in the way that we confront domestic violence. In answer to the Leader of the Opposition's question directly, yes, I do take responsibility as Premier of this state for the response to the royal commission. A royal commission is ultimately commissioned by the Premier through Her Excellency and this is a comprehensive piece of policy work for which the government is very grateful.

Can I take this opportunity, given the Leader of the Opposition's question, to speak to the methodology that we are applying in response to the royal commission. The royal commission has within it 136 recommendations and makes very clear to the government how best to go about implementing those recommendations. It sets out a rather prescriptive guide to government around the timelines that it should adopt in the application of the recommendations that have been made.

It is a prevailing theme of the royal commission report that to the best of the government's ability we assess to be consistent with the advocacy we see coming from the sector, that is those organisations in our community that do frontline service delivery around domestic violence, and consistent with a clear learning of the Victorian royal commission that it is important that time is taken to methodically plan out how recommendations will be implemented before they are adopted.

In fact, the royal commissioner today in her press conference, which I would encourage the Leader of the Opposition to watch, makes very clear that there are lessons to be learned from Victoria about not rushing to just tick off recommendations but rather to work through them.

The Hon. V.A. Tarzia interjecting:

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: The Leader of the Opposition interjects referring to the $3 billion figure, which I note has also been referenced in a hyperpartisan press release that the Liberal Party have put out. I am going to resist making—

The Hon. V.A. Tarzia interjecting:

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: The leader will cease interjecting. You have been warned.

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: The Leader of the Opposition says, 'Take it seriously'. I would simply say this to the Leader of the Opposition, before he keeps pressing—

The Hon. V.A. Tarzia interjecting:

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: The leader has been warned a second time.

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: —take the time to read the report. Take the time to read the report. Unless the Leader of the Opposition is the fastest reader in the state, he has not yet read the royal commission report before putting out a press release relating to it, which is worthy of contemplation for members opposite. But more than that, the Leader of the Opposition refers to the dollars allocated by the Victorian government, which itself took weeks to announce a funding allocation post the release of the report, which is consistent not just with the approach we are taking but also consistent with what the royal commissioner herself has recommended.

So, if the Leader of the Opposition wants to play politics with this report, he will be doing a grave disservice to the importance of the report and the thoughtfulness that has been put into its development. I would encourage the Leader of the Opposition to read the report before he goes rushing out putting out any more press releases.