STATEMENTS BY SENATORS

Senator O'SULLIVAN (Western Australia—Deputy Manager of Opposition Business in the Senate) (13:38): I rise to speak to a number that should not exist: 68. It is 68 women and children whose lives have been taken by violence since 1 January this year. Behind every number is a person with their own personality, hopes and dreams—with a favourite song that won't be sung anymore, a favourite food they won't eat anymore and a favourite joke they won't make anymore.

Each had people who loved them, and each loved one now faces the unimaginable task of living without them. These women and children deserve to be more than numbers we hear, lament and then move on from; they deserve to be remembered as the people they were. Time allows me to speak of only a few.

We remember Sophie Isabelle Quinn, who loved adventure and was carrying her unborn little one, Troy. We remember Sophie's aunty, Nerida Quinn, who was known for making people laugh. We remember Perth brothers Leon and Otis Clune, who loved being in the swimming pool, and Annmarie O'Reilly, described by her brother as the nicest woman you'd meet and the best mother to her children.

But remembrance without action is not enough. We must refuse to accept violence as inevitable. We must call it out, intervene when we see the warning signs, support those seeking help and hold perpetrators accountable.

That responsibility belongs to all of us. It belongs to governments, communities, families—to every one of us. We owe these 68 lives more than our grief; we owe them our resolve to prevent another name being added to this terrible list.

May they all rest in peace.