Chhour KarenHon KAREN CHHOUR (Minister for the Prevention of Family and Sexual Violence): Thank you Mr Speaker. It's a real privilege to be standing here today on behalf of the ACT Party to support this bill and also in my role as the Minister for the Prevention of Family and Sexual Violence. I really do think that this bill will make a big difference in a lot of lives so I really once again—and this is important to repeat—want to thank all of those who have been involved to get this bill to where it is today. That would be Charlotte Abrial Ashley Jones the Hon Chris Bishop Angie Warren-Clark and now the Hon Dr Deborah Russell.It just goes to show the power of one person's voice the power of a strong woman that's willing to stand up and fight for what she believes in and fight to make change within the community coming with a petition—two petitions from memory—to say that enough is enough and we need to make some changes in this space. That's why this place is so special: where one or two voices can put together a petition like that and be so strong and powerful in the message that they're bringing here that they can bring the whole of Parliament together and united to make a real change within this country. I'm really proud of that that we have come together across Parliament to support to such an important piece of work. I just felt that had to be said again. It really needs to be emphasised that your voice is powerful and we're here to listen to the voices of people who come here and want to make some real change in this country.I was listening to the Hon Dr Deborah Russell speak and I think there were a few really important points that were made and those were going back to how hard it is to leave a relationship where you do feel isolated where you do feel controlled and where you are being hurt and harmed on a daily basis. But not only that you're also struggling with trying to hide that because you're full of shame that this is actually happening. There shouldn't be shame in that; it's not your fault and it should not be happening. I think the key message is that women and people who suffer from this often leave up to seven times and go back—seven times—and then they keep going back. Now we also know that the greatest risk of death from being killed by a partner is when you leave so if you're leaving seven times imagine the fear each and every time you walk out the door wondering if this will be the day.Then we have a situation where the courts become another barrier to leaving because you are tied to a person that has already isolated you controlled you and made you fear for your life each and every day. We really should take a long hard think about how our courts are working and whether actually some of the legislation—and this one in particular—is causing more harm than good in the way that it works. I'm really really honoured to be part of this today because this has taken far too long and it seems so obvious. It seems so obvious. Why are we making victims be tied to somebody who has hurt and harmed them for two years? Two extra years of having to tolerate that. Two extra years of having the person that you have finally finally managed to free yourself from and now you've got the court saying Sorry you have to wait two years to cut that tie." That's not OK. I can't wait for the final reading of this legislation when we table this completely and we can actually stand up and celebrate that that will no longer happen to any other victim of domestic violence.The next point I would like to make is around the children. No one wants to have a child be in a home where they are either witnessing or experiencing family violence or harm—because it doesn't just affect the children that day; it affects them tomorrow it affects them next week it affects them next year it affects them for a lifetime and it can often interfere with their own relationships when they grow up later in life. Knowing what a healthy happy relationship should be is important for our next generation to break that cycle of family violence and harm. And I do believe that this bill will go a long way to contributing to breaking that cycle of harm by allowing a woman or a man to make a choice to leave a relationship and not have a court make them stay when they shouldn't.This bill also I think we should add doesn't just cover marriages; it covers civil unions as well. I think that's important to point out because civil unions have a similar tie when it comes to being able to leave as well. So both marriage and civil. What I would say is when you get married it's meant to be the happiest day of your life. Marriage is a positive thing. Marriage should be the happiest time of your life. It shouldn't be made to be the most torturous time of your life trying to leave.So I really hope that those who contributed to this bill across the House and the names that I have mentioned really do applaud themselves and pat themselves on the back for having the courage to come forward to speak up about things that must have been very traumatic for these ladies—facing demons not only for themselves but for the whole country when they were standing up and speaking before the Justice Committee. So thank you. We appreciate you and we hope that you can see we all in this House support what you brought to us and hope it makes a real difference to many more in this country in the future."