Abandoning electronic monitoring a poor life-and-death choice on safety

The meeting of Australia's political leaders was convened to address what the Prime Minister acknowledged as the "national crisis of gender-based violence".

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The cost of introducing ankle monitoring was too high and competed with other priorities, including investments in Canberra's prison, the Alexander Maconochie Centre. Pictures by Karleen Minney and Canva.

It was a move welcomed by the people who work with those escaping domestic violence and the police.

The government warned of tough decisions when the true extent of its budget pressures became apparent early on in this parliamentary term. It did not warn of unconscionable decisions.

"We are consistently told that preventing violence is everyone's responsibility, that perpetrators must be held accountable, and that victims should feel supported when they come forward," YWCA Canberra chief executive Frances Crimmins said.

"YWCA Canberra, and our colleagues in the women's sector, take these calls to action and our obligations to our clients very seriously but we see very little of this courage coming from government."

The organisation is right. This is not a run-of-the-mill government decision. This is a decision that has the potential for life-and-death consequences.

The situation that requires this choice, that weighs up community safety on a scale with a cost estimate, shows this territory has a government that needs to work harder to ensure it still has the trust of the community and can walk the fiscal tightrope.

There is no doubt the territory's budget needs to be repaired. It was heartening to see Treasurer Chris Steel this week take the challenge to the federal government to step up on tax system changes, to ensure the states and territories were fiscally equipped to deliver the services expected of them.

But the ACT government cannot simply point the finger and shrug. It needs to work harder to manage the resources it has to deliver the vital services the community rightly demands.

Tough decisions should be expected of politicians. They are required. But the decision to trade community safety so openly when faced with high costs shows not toughness but folly.

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