Tuesday, 9 December 2025

 Renee HEATH (Eastern Victoria) (22:09): (2228) Tonight once again I am standing as the last contribution that I make for this whole year to talk about Celeste Manno, and sadly, this is the third time that I have used this opportunity to speak about her tragic death. On 16 November 2020 Celeste was tragically stabbed to death in her own bed by a violent stalker. She had completely followed the rules. She had followed the law. She had done everything down to the detail of what she should have done. After her tragic death the Victorian Law Reform Commission handed down a report with 45 recommendations on how to strengthen stalking laws in this state. Sadly, years on – five years after her death and four years after this law reform commission document was tabled – still nothing has been done. On 30 November 2023 I raised this exact issue, and in my last adjournment for the year on 28 November 2024 I asked again. What has happened here is that after this occurred, Jill Hennessy was the AG at the time and she and Daniel Andrews promised that they would strengthen stalking laws quickly. Then Jaclyn Symes took over as the AG not long after. She promised she would honour those commitments. Now the action that I seek is from Sonya Kilkenny – that she not just promise but deliver these 45 recommendations in order to make life safer for people that are victims of stalking.