Rosie Batty thanked for her tireless work

By:  JENNA PRICE, The Courier, 30th September, 2015



It's horrifying to think of a young child battered to death by his father. On Monday, it was all Australians could think about as Coroner Ian Gray delivered the findings on Monday of the inquest into the death of 11 year old Luke Batty at the hands of his father last year.

And as we all watched and listened across Australia, we are all too aware of the sacrifice Luke's mother, Rosie, has made since February last year.

Rosie Batty is Australian Of The Year in the most terrible of circumstances. She was appointed to the position because of the way in which she took charge of her life when so many of us would have been sobbing in bed for years.

Her work on domestic violence in Australia will save the lives of many who are today living in fear.

The Coroner's findings, delivered after months of painstaking work, listening to evidence, going through all the research, all the policies, all the protocols, delivered one sacred verdict. Rosie, it wasn't your fault. You could never have known.

As Ian Gray said on Monday, Luke's death was "not reasonably foreseeable by any person, including Ms Batty".

I was relieved to hear those words, relieved to hear that the coroner had delivered a stinging rebuttal to those wicked people who say Rosie should have known, that she could have somehow predicted the man with whom she fell in love all those years ago would turn out to be a terrifying murderer.

Gray said on Monday: "Violence perpetrated by a family member is particularly shocking given that the family unit is expected to be a place of trust, safety and protection."
See your ad here

Coroner Gray was also very explicit when he said that every single opportunity for engagement should be taken. And what he means is that every single service, health, education, police and justice, every single service should engage - should work with - withe families living with domestic violence.

Everyone has a story of a service that needs help: of the community legal centres turning away thousands of the needy each year; of the emergency wards who cannot deal with the flood of women, battered and bruised; of police officers who need better training; of those who allow bail despite all the evidence.

And Rosie is speaking up for all of them.

I admire Rosie's persistence with politicians. She has been working with them nearly since the beginning, teaching and nurturing their understanding, since the days after Luke's death.

If she felt she could have a worthwhile conversation with a member of parliament, no matter what stripe, she would go, day and night: Abbott, Shorten, Andrews; and now Turnbull.

If the call came, she answered it. Always brave, always resilient. I am confident she will be able to persuade the government to fund the small amounts that help these services work.

Late last year she told me: "People explain to me, 'if you could just see the difference you are making'. But I just do what I feel is right. People give me encouragement and reinforcement and the alternative of not doing this is just too difficult.

"I can't imagine what else I would be doing just trying to get through the day. It keeps me busy, it's my coping strategy. It utilises my strengths and this is right for me."

Rosie, your presence and advocacy is the best possible intervention in domestic violence in this country. On behalf of Australians, I thank you for your service.

- Jenna Price is a Fairfax Media columnist