International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women Vigil

The Hon. AILEEN MacDONALD (10:07:38):

I seek leave to amend private members' business item No. 688 for today of which I have given notice by inserting in paragraph (2) (e) "nationally" after "taken".

Leave granted.

The Hon. AILEEN MacDONALD:

Accordingly, I move:

(1)That this House notes that:

(a)on 24 November 2023, Orange Council held a vigil on the eve of the International Day of Elimination of Violence Against Women, kicking off 16 days of activism against gender-based violence; and

(b)the guest speaker was the Women's Safety Commissioner, Dr Hannah Tonkin.

(2)That this House further notes that:

(a)councillor David Mallard said he had brought this issue to the council as he was disturbed by crime statistics showing that Orange had the twelfth highest rate of domestic violence in New South Wales last year, with 402 incidents;

(b)the trend was showing an annual increase of 13.4 per cent increase in domestic violence related assaults in Orange;

(c)the Deputy Mayor shared a personal story from his childhood as to why he supported 16 days of activism, which was his story to tell and was very moving;

(d)on display at the vigil were 53 pairs of shoes each with a name beside them and a story of a women's life who had been taken as a result of domestic violence; and

(e)at the conclusion of the vigil, a bell was rung 53 times to represent each life taken nationally by domestic violence this year.

(3)That this House calls on all levels of government to continue to invest in gender-based violence prevention.

Motion agreed to.

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