'Australia Says No' to women's shelters

Quote of the day, from an article on crime rates in Newcastle and the Hunter region:

Sabine Wagner, manager of Carrie's Place women's refuge at Maitland, said her organisation had been turning away 900 people a year because of a lack of places.

"Only one out of 10 people can be accommodated. Domestic violence is about power and control but certainly drinking and economic problems are contributing to an increase," Ms Wagner said.

"We have women sleeping in cars and bus shelters. There's an 'Australia Says No To Domestic Violence' campaign, but we have to say no to 90 per cent of the people who come for help.

"Many women stay with their partners because they've got nowhere to go. You wouldn't say of other crime, 'It's OK. Go and stand in the middle of the road and get run over again'."

I don't know how many millions of dollars the Howard government poured into its 'Australia Says No' campaign, but just imagine if some of that money was instead directed to shelters such as Carrie's Place so the women turned away could take that first step in escaping abuse by their partners.

Instead, Howard would rather give Australians the false impression that his government has done something about the problem. It's a feel-good campaign.