Thursday, 16 November 2023

Family violence

Gaelle BROAD (Northern Victoria) (09:45): I rise to draw the attention of the house to a horrific family violence incident in Bendigo recently. Two young girls lost their mum Analyn ‘Logee’ Osias on 29 October. They were in the house when their mother was allegedly fatally assaulted, and she died later in hospital. Her former partner has been charged with murder; he was on bail at the time. There has been a huge community outpouring of grief for Logee, who was a respected member of Bendigo’s Filipino community. A GoFundMe page has been set up to raise money for the future of her children. Three years ago they lost their father in a road accident.

A public vigil was held on 2 November. At the vigil it was noted that in 10 days across Australia five women, including Logee, had been killed as a direct result of family violence. Yesterday was the start of a global campaign called 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence, calling for an end to violence against women. Recent figures show that around one woman is killed in a family or gendered violence incident in Australia every week. This is appalling. As a society we need to stand up and say this is totally unacceptable. We need to call out disrespectful and aggressive behaviour and sexism, we need to keep an eye out for controlling and coercive behaviour and we need to support victims of family violence.

I want to thank the various support agencies who are overwhelmed by the demand for their services. As a community we need to do better. I would especially like to pay my respects to Logee’s family and friends, who will remember her as a fun-loving and happy person. Rest in peace, Logee.