Thursday, 16 November 2023

Stalking law reform

Renee HEATH (Eastern Victoria) (18:15): (608) Today marks three years since the violent murder of Celeste Manno. As many would be aware, Celeste was a beautiful 23-year-old girl who was stalked by a former co-worker. He contacted her repeatedly. She got an intervention order, she kept police informed and followed their advice to the letter. He breached it, he was arrested and then she did not hear from him for three months. Then he allegedly broke into her bedroom, and we all know what happened next.

She was a beautiful, happy-go-lucky girl who brought so much joy to those around her. She had her whole life ahead of her, and she had dreams and goals. She had studied criminology and psychology, and she was about to enrol in her honours year. She was excited about entering the field of psychology, and she had so much to offer. But on 16 November 2020 it was all stolen from her. Recently I attended a vigil to celebrate her life. There was an amazing piece of artwork there called The Lost Petition, which ran down the length of the steps of Parliament and listed the names of women and children that have died at the hands of male violent offenders. All of those lives were robbed.

When are we implementing the 45 recommendations that were tabled in Parliament last September in response to the Victorian Law Reform Commission’s inquiry into stalking? This question has already been asked twice – once by David Limbrick and once by Michael O’Brien – and there has been no response. My adjournment is to the Attorney. The former Attorney-General and the former Premier promised Celeste’s mother Aggie that they would strengthen stalking laws. The current Attorney has promised that she would honour these commitments. They have told Aggie to just be patient, but now it is three years on and nothing has changed. The action that I seek is that they take immediate action to implement these recommendations.