Rosie Batty has used an appearance at a Victorian parliamentary inquiry into domestic violence to enter the same sex marriage debate. She questioned how the federal government could find $160 million to fund a plebiscite into the same sex marriage yet could not in her opinion properly fund the family law system. Not only that she also claimed that the greatest risk of terrorism we’re likely to face is from someone we know in our own homes, clearly dismissing the threat of Islamic terror in Australia.

It is all very well for Rosie Batty to campaign on the issue of domestic violence, even though many dispute the facts she puts forward arguing that there is a domestic violence epidemic and accuse her of descending into demonizing all men. But it is another thing to then use the issue of domestic violence to criticize government policy in other areas which some would argue it is inappropriate for her to use her public platform in this way.

The same sex marriage plebiscite is back in the news today after Peter Dutton told Sky News Sunday Agenda that he supported a postal plebiscite on same sex marriage (which does not need legislation to pass the Senate) as a way to resolve the issue in this term of parliament and still keep the Coalition’s election commitment to have a public vote.

Some might even argue that having a plebiscite on same sex marriage is an important family law issue. Given that many Australians have concerns about the well-being of children being raised in same sex households, therefore it is vital for some that this issue is explored if we are considering legalizing same sex marriage.

Rosie Batty’s criticism of the government’s funding in other public policy basically means that she is using her public profile to decide which aspects of governments are worth funding and which are not. I doubt Rosie Batty would ask why does the government give the ABC $1 billion is funds when it could be spending that money on domestic violence.

The Victorian Government allocated $1.9 billi0n dollars in extra funding for domestic violence in its state budget this year so this also begs the question how much funding is enough to satisfy Rosie Batty?

The Australian people voted for the plebiscite as a policy and if Rosie Batty wants more funding for the family law court she should make an argument for it based on its merits and not bring up other public policy issues.

Author Details
Tim Wilms is the Founder and Editor in Chief of https://theunshackled.net. the Host of Tim’s News Explosion, the WilmsFront interview program and The Theorists with Andy Nolch. He based in Melbourne, Australia where he also conducts field reports.
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Tim Wilms is the Founder and Editor in Chief of https://theunshackled.net. the Host of Tim’s News Explosion, the WilmsFront interview program and The Theorists with Andy Nolch. He based in Melbourne, Australia where he also conducts field reports.