Mood Sours After PM Asked to Speak At Domestic Violence Rally

Prime MInister Anthony Albanese in Sydney, on Nov. 1, 2023. AAP Image/Dean Lewins

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is embroiled in a war of words with critics about the way he behaved at the No More rally in Canberra at the weekend, organised by a domestic violence lobby group.

About 17 rallies were held across Australia over the weekend.

During his speech, the prime minister claimed he'd been denied permission to address the rally.

But one of the organisers, Sarah Williams, characterised this claim as a “flat-out lie.”

“The Prime Minister of Australia lied to his country today. Representatives from [Minister of Finance Katy] Gallagher’s and [Mr.] Albanese’s offices both said this morning that they were sure Katy would be happy to speak. Not the Prime Minister,” Ms. Williams wrote on Instagram.

“[We] never denied him from speaking (sic). He was never asked to speak.

“For him to not only demand he speak because he was being heckled, but [to also] lie was disgraceful. He demonstrated today what entitlement looks like,” she added, claiming Mr. Albanese said, ‘I’m the Prime Minister of the country, I run the country,’” when asked whether he should be allowed to speak.

“I bursted (sic) into tears right next to him. The fact [he] continued to speak and didn’t mention me once, nor apologise was appalling,” Ms. Williams said.

PM Won’t Continue the Issue

Mr. Albanese said he would not comment on Ms. William’s claim about his leadership, saying, “I’m not going to get into that sort of debate.”

“You were all there, so the media were all around, they heard everything that was said there,” he said. “It was an emotional day for people and I get that on what is an emotional issue. Because women were saying yesterday, enough is enough.”

He further added that he wished Ms. William’s well.

“She did well in organising the rallies, as did everyone there.”

“It’s not enough to just have empathy. The fact that one woman dies every four days, on average, at the hand of a partner, is just a national crisis,” the prime minister said.

Rally Organisers Put 5 Demands to the PM

Organisers of the rally put five demands to Mr. Albanese, who would not commit on the spot to them, leading to heckling and booing from the crowd.

Protesters yelled “we want action” and “do your job.”

The demands were: the declaration of a national emergency; mandatory victim blaming prevention training for police, media and first responders; alternative reporting options for violence victims, including specialist courts; the media to wait 48 hours before identifying violence victims; and for the government to give better, more sustainable funding for organisations with five-year minimum commitments.

Predictably, the prime minister’s situation drew criticism from the federal opposition.

Nationals leader David Littleproud said he had “got what he deserved” by being “tone deaf, regardless of whether he was asked to speak or not.

“If he had issues about whether he was invited to speak or not, it’s not to make it public in front of the public that were there—and when Sarah became emotionally distraught, for the prime minister to continue on … He was tone deaf.

“I get we’re all angry, but as prime minister, it’s your responsibility to lead this nation, not to fight it, and make petty political points at the expense of a brave woman who has come forward in her community.”

‘Wall of Concrete’: Opposition

Similar sentiments were expressed by opposition finance spokeswoman Jane Hume, who said he failed to “read the room” and that his actions at the rally demonstrated he had “not so much a tin ear as a wall of concrete.”

“The women out there are hurting, and they want actions, not words. They want actions, not platitudes,” she said.

Opposition women’s minister, Sussan Ley, said she hoped Mr. Albanese was “up to the job” of handling the problem of gendered violence.

“We are calling for strong leadership, determined action and an approach that crosses all levels of government,” she said.

Labor Women’s Minister Stands by PM

Senator Gallagher defended Mr. Albanese, saying there had been discussions before the rally about who would be on the speaker’s list, but the government wasn’t able to “land” that ahead of the event.

She said it became evident on the day that people wanted the prime minister to speak.

“I think the rally expected to hear from their prime minister, so he stood up and spoke,” she said.

“I can’t think of another prime minister who spent a couple of hours, one hour walking and the rest of the time listening to speakers, he was there as a sign of solidarity, he wanted to show he was deeply interested and cared.”

National Cabinet to Convene

Both Mr. Albanese and federal Attorney General Mark Dreyfus have ruled out establishing a royal commission into domestic violence, saying that it should instead be dealt with via cooperation between the federal, and state and territory governments.

“I think we’ve actually identified a whole range of actions already that need to be taken, and I think what we probably can say is that we need to be working harder on the kinds of actions that have already been identified,” Mr. Dreyfus said.

The prime minister said today that an urgent national cabinet meeting on the subject will be convened on May 1 to discuss what more could be done. But with the federal budget less than two weeks away, he did not announce any new violence prevention policies or funding.

“You can’t solve it overnight. This isn’t an issue just for governments. This is an issue for men. And their behaviour. It’s an issue for society’s culture,” he said.

Twenty-six women have been violently killed in the first 114 days of this year, according to data compiled by Counting Dead Women, a project of the advocacy group Destroy the Joint.

An average of one woman is murdered in domestic violence incidents every four days. Last year, that figure was one a week.