A Gold Coast domestic violence victim said she “almost hopes” to be murdered by her abusive former partner to force authorities to get tough on the scourge.
A terrified Michelle Beattie made the extraordinary admission yesterday when her ex-partner was released from jail after serving several months for repeated domestic violence offences.
She said she feared for her life as her former partner did not have to wear a GPS tracking device.
Fighting back tears, Ms Beattie said her death might finally jolt authorities into action.
“In a way I hope he does kill me, because it might finally make them take notice,” she said.
“If that happened, then at least they would have to say, ‘well there’s another one dead, we better do something about it’.”
Ms Beattie’s ex-partner was not subject to a court order requiring him to be fitted with a tracking device, leaving her sheltering in a hotel after turning to Opposition domestic violence spokeswoman Ros Bates and the support group Domestic Violence Connect.
Ms Beattie said the domestic violence murders of Tara Brown, Shelsea Schilling and Teresa Bradford had been in vain, as not enough has been done to make victims safer.
“It just makes their deaths look like a joke,” she said.
“Don’t let their deaths be in vain.”
Ms Bates repeatedly asked the State Government for assurance that Ms Beattie’s attacker would be fitted with a tracking device on his release.
She said it was another example of not tackling the problem seriously.
“The Opposition had to do the Government’s job by bringing in tough new DV laws, and yet victims still have no certainty when alleged perpetrators are released on parole, even though GPS trackers were enshrined in legislation,” she said.
“Victims need certainty and to be assured of their safety, not living in fear that their nightmare will start all over again.”
A spokeswoman for Corrective Services Minister Mark Ryan said the Government was doing everything in its power to take on domestic violence.
“The Palaszczuk Government is committed to tackling domestic and family violence, and that is why we have invested more than $200 million in services, including high-risk teams, integrated responses, offender change and education programs, crisis shelters and additional victim support,” she said.
“The Government also accepted all the recommendations of the Not Now, Not Ever report.”
Communities Minister Shannon Fentiman described Ms Beattie’s situation as extremely distressing and said a number of agencies were working with her to keep her safe.
But Ms Fentiman said she was unable to personally intervene and insist on Ms Beattie’s former partner being fitted with a tracking device with the decision on who is fitted with one up to the courts or the independent parole board.
“It’s not something we can intervene in. It’s a decision for independent bodies to make about the risk that he poses to the victim,” Ms Fentiman said.
But she said the government was working on a trial for GPS monitoring of serious violent domestic violence offenders as well, as recommended by the Not Now, Not Ever report.
“The research in Not Now, Not Ever report clearly shows that the way we actually prevent homicides from occurring is acting earlier and agencies sharing information,” Ms Fentiman said.
“That’s what our integrated response high risk teams do. They actually are working right now to make sure we are tracking those high risk offenders and we have a safety plan for the victims.
“In the longer term... this is a community issue.”
This article was written by Jeremy Pierce and Sarah Vogler and has been copied from here.
A terrified Michelle Beattie made the extraordinary admission yesterday when her ex-partner was released from jail after serving several months for repeated domestic violence offences.
She said she feared for her life as her former partner did not have to wear a GPS tracking device.
Fighting back tears, Ms Beattie said her death might finally jolt authorities into action.
“In a way I hope he does kill me, because it might finally make them take notice,” she said.
“If that happened, then at least they would have to say, ‘well there’s another one dead, we better do something about it’.”
Ms Beattie’s ex-partner was not subject to a court order requiring him to be fitted with a tracking device, leaving her sheltering in a hotel after turning to Opposition domestic violence spokeswoman Ros Bates and the support group Domestic Violence Connect.
Ms Beattie said the domestic violence murders of Tara Brown, Shelsea Schilling and Teresa Bradford had been in vain, as not enough has been done to make victims safer.
“It just makes their deaths look like a joke,” she said.
“Don’t let their deaths be in vain.”
Ms Bates repeatedly asked the State Government for assurance that Ms Beattie’s attacker would be fitted with a tracking device on his release.
She said it was another example of not tackling the problem seriously.
“The Opposition had to do the Government’s job by bringing in tough new DV laws, and yet victims still have no certainty when alleged perpetrators are released on parole, even though GPS trackers were enshrined in legislation,” she said.
“Victims need certainty and to be assured of their safety, not living in fear that their nightmare will start all over again.”
A spokeswoman for Corrective Services Minister Mark Ryan said the Government was doing everything in its power to take on domestic violence.
“The Palaszczuk Government is committed to tackling domestic and family violence, and that is why we have invested more than $200 million in services, including high-risk teams, integrated responses, offender change and education programs, crisis shelters and additional victim support,” she said.
“The Government also accepted all the recommendations of the Not Now, Not Ever report.”
Communities Minister Shannon Fentiman described Ms Beattie’s situation as extremely distressing and said a number of agencies were working with her to keep her safe.
But Ms Fentiman said she was unable to personally intervene and insist on Ms Beattie’s former partner being fitted with a tracking device with the decision on who is fitted with one up to the courts or the independent parole board.
“It’s not something we can intervene in. It’s a decision for independent bodies to make about the risk that he poses to the victim,” Ms Fentiman said.
But she said the government was working on a trial for GPS monitoring of serious violent domestic violence offenders as well, as recommended by the Not Now, Not Ever report.
“The research in Not Now, Not Ever report clearly shows that the way we actually prevent homicides from occurring is acting earlier and agencies sharing information,” Ms Fentiman said.
“That’s what our integrated response high risk teams do. They actually are working right now to make sure we are tracking those high risk offenders and we have a safety plan for the victims.
“In the longer term... this is a community issue.”
This article was written by Jeremy Pierce and Sarah Vogler and has been copied from here.
