Malcolm Turnbull, Bill Shorten unite to fight domestic violence

In a rare show of unity from both sides of politics, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Opposition Leader Bill Shorten have joined hands to extend their support to a Northern Territory grassroots domestic violence campaign called No More.

Linking of arms has apparently become the symbol of No More campaign. To support the cause, Turnbull and Shorten also joined indigenous leaders to link arms outside the Parliament House in Canberra. Reportedly, Turnbull looked awkward while linking arms with Shorten.

No More campaigner and ABC sports commentator Charlie King said at the gathering, “The unacceptable has become acceptable; this is unacceptable, the levels of domestic violence in this country. Why should we live with that?”

He further called for a change in how Australia, including businesses as well as sporting clubs, approach family violence. “Family violence is unacceptable, there is no room for it,” said King, adding, “We don’t need to march one day of the year, we need to march all the time.”

He acknowledged that the members of Rirratjingu Aboriginal Corporation from Arnhem Land, who performed a ceremonial dance at the gathering, had been able to reduce family violence by 27.9 percent in just one year.

Later, Turnbull passed a motion in the parliament to acknowledge that violence against women was a national issue. He said that it requires response from the entire community.

“As a parliament and as a nation, we no longer avert our gaze from the horror and the shame that is domestic violence -- we look clear-eyed at this appalling failure and we are resolved to stop it,” he said.

On the other side, Shorten told the MPs, “We owe it to ourselves, to the nation we imagine ourselves to be, the nation we want our children to see in the mirror, to right this wrong.”