Sunrise star Edwina Bartholomew blasts Albo and Peter Dutton over a disturbing issue facing all Australians

Sunrise presenter Edwina Bartholomew has called out Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton to do more to address violence against women following the death of 19-year-old Audrey Griffin. 

The teen’s partially submerged body was found in Erina Creek on the NSW Central Coast on March 24, a day after she was last seen leaving a nearby pub following a night out with friends.

Ms Griffin had been walking home after trying and failing to order an Uber. 

Adrian Torrens, 53, was charged with her murder last Monday but took his own life while in custody at western Sydney’s Silverwater Correctional Complex three days later.

It has since emerged that Torrens had a history of violence against women.

Ms Griffin’s death was not initially deemed as suspicious because a preliminary autopsy indicated she had drowned. However, subsequent inquiries led to Torrens’s arrest and police say her DNA was found under his fingernails. 

Bartholomew has issued an ‘impassioned plea for politicians to take gender-based violence seriously’ in an opinion piece for 7news.com.au. 

Opposition Leader Mr Dutton has promised a $90million pledge towards a 10-year plan to end violence against women and children if the Coalition is elected on May 3 while the Prime Minister announced $4.7billion investment last year. 

‘That’s it,’ Bartholomew wrote. 

‘The impact was over in a day, and we quickly returned to our housing crisis and electricity prices.’

She echoed the calls of thousands who braved the rain in Ms Griffin’s hometown of Gosford on Sunday to call for urgent national action to end violence against women and urge government leaders to treat the issue as a national emergency.

Ms Griffin is the 22nd woman to die from gender based violence this year, according to Bartholomew.

‘Who is actually listening? How many more rallies will there be? How many women will be killed? How many more must flee from harm before something serious is done?’ she asked.

Torrens had previously avoided prison last October after pleading guilty to using a carriage service to harass, menace or offend, and for breaching an AVO.

He was granted an 18-month community corrections order, which he had been serving at the time of Ms Griffin’s murder.

Torrens also had a history of violent offending and breaching restraining orders.

When he was arrested for Ms Griffin’s murder, Torrens was also charged with 11 other unrelated domestic violence charges. 

Bartholomew pointed to a resurfaced video of criminologist and former police officer Vincent Hurley, who branded politicians as ‘disgraceful’ in a Q&A panel discussion on domestic violence.

Speaking on the ABC program in May 2024, he directed his anger at federal frontbenchers Murray Watt and Bridget McKenzie and NSW Opposition Leader Mark Speakman, who were all on the panel.

The Macquarie University criminology lecturer previously spent three decades as a police officer and detective in Western Sydney.

‘How dare you go into politics, in an environment like this, when one woman is murdered every four days, and all you… can do is immediately talk about politics? That is just disgraceful,’ Mr Hurley told the panel.

‘If a male has a history of crimes of violence, of any form of domestic violence, coercion, physical, emotional, they should not have the presumption of bail.’

News of Torrens’ death in custody came to lights as 1000 mourners packed Terrigal Beach at a sunset vigil last Thursday night in Ms Griffin’s honour.

Her mum Kathleen Kirby told Daily Mail Australia last week that her daughter was a fit, intelligent and beautiful young woman who ‘had the world at her feet’.

The sporty teenager had travelled to New Zealand to compete in the ANZCO half-ironman event, which she completed in just over six-and-a-half hours, a fortnight before her death. 

She was remembered as a ‘determined athlete, talented student and well-liked teenager’.