Labor MPs must prioritise Northern Rivers women and children’s safety and back calls for urgent Budget funding

As the Greens move to declare violence against women a national emergency, Greens candidate for Richmond and community advocate Mandy Nolan will hold a vigil for victims of violence and has called on Northern Rivers Labor MPs to back budget funding to tackle the violence epidemic.

A candlelit vigil to honour the women and children who have been lost to violence this year will be held at Northern Rivers Conservatorium this Wednesday 1 May, 5:30 - 6:30pm. 

The vigil will take place alongside rallies across the country, as thousands take to the streets to demand action to stem the rising tide of violence. The Greens demand that an emergency declaration must come with $1 billion a year to fully fund frontline support services, prevention programs and reforms to the justice system, through the National Plan to End Violence Against Women and Children.

Mandy Nolan, Greens Candidate for Richmond, said:

“The epidemic of violence against women in this country is gender terrorism. A woman is now being killed every four days, and still we’re yet to see any meaningful action from the Labor Government, with crucial social support services critically underfunded. The time for talk is over - we need to treat violence against women in Australia as a national emergency.”

“We must put the safety of women and children in our region first. The housing crisis and domestic violence crises go hand in hand, with many women forced to choose between staying with an abusive perpetrator or becoming homeless. We need proper funding for crisis accommodation and frontline support services and increased  income support payments so that women trying to escape violence aren’t forced to choose between violence and poverty.”

“Our region is supposed to be represented by the  Assistant Minister for the Prevention of Family Violence, and yet services in this region continue to go unfunded, and women and children remain in unsafe living situations. It’s not good enough. Our Labor representatives must prioritise women’s safety and publicly back the calls for urgent funding in the upcoming Budget. Anything less is failing the women and children of the Northern Rivers.”

Greens Demands for Wednesday’s National Cabinet:

• Declare that violence against women is a national emergency, 
• Support all demands of the ‘No More’ marches, including full funding of $1b a year to the National Plan in the upcoming federal budget,
• Boost income support for all so women aren’t forced to stay in a violent home