Matthew Newton leaves court after his conviction for assaulting former girlfriend Brooke Satchwell was quashed. Photo: Sergio Dionisio
I MET Patti Newton once, in a manner of speaking. Running horribly late for a meeting I flew into the Como Centre lift in South Yarra, where Patti, finger on the button, asked me politely where I would like to go.
"Up," I gasped, which was rather superfluous given we were in the basement and, unless we had shovels, was the only direction possible. We chugged up to the next floor where she looked at me questioningly. "Out," I managed, still trying to catch my breath and clearly determined to leave a lasting impression of idiocy.
But I don't need to have spoken more than two words to Patti Newton to feel a sense of connection with what she is enduring right now. Because I was once there myself, just in a different seat. I even understand why she wanted to come forward, torn between a desire to support her son and yet create distance from his actions.
What I don't understand is how A Current Affair ran an entire program on domestic violence without actually mentioning those words, or any of the key terms that describe what Matthew Newton allegedly did, which is beat his girlfriend.
Just as he did four years ago when he reportedly punched then girlfriend Brooke Satchwell and attempted to gouge her eyes and face. On that occasion, despite doing a deal that meant pleading guilty to only one charge, he objected to the subsequent 12-month good behaviour bond and appealed.
Fortunately for Newton, the appeal judge, impressed by his "extraordinary" character references, felt that Newton, as a "kind and giving" man, had already suffered enough. Which would no doubt have pleased the actor Barry Otto, who said: "Matthew is a great person. I don't understand why people are trying to destroy his reputation with this sort of stuff. He is suffering a great hurt and this [the court case] will simply make things worse."
For whom? Well, Newton of course, or Matt as some sections of the media have taken to calling him, with a sympathetic sort of camaraderie. Because, after all, this is about Matt — his demons, his family, his suffering, his career. And something else that has taken a bit of a back seat — his choices.
While there is little doubt that Newton has mental health issues, he also has a pattern of violence against women. Any attempt to make the two mutually inclusive is insulting to all those who keep their hands to themselves. Even a predisposition towards certain behaviours leaves ample room for choice.
But if one good thing has come out of this sorry saga, it has been evidence that the wider community has begun to wake up to the nuances of domestic violence, and no longer accepts excuses. The day after the Newton parents' ACA interview aired, online commentary and radio talk-waves were full of people stridently doing what the media had failed to — identifying Newton's actions for what they were.
It only requires a backwards glance to 1995, where a national survey into community attitudes found that we were judgmental of women who experienced domestic violence and did not want to get involved, to recognise how heartening this is.
But there's still a long way to go. A significant number of people still hold women equally responsible for any violence, and believe that the perpetrator should be excused if the abuse resulted from a temporary "loss of control". Yet domestic violence is all about power and control.
Last week's events represented a marvellous opportunity to raise awareness even more. Instead, A Current Affair, along with stablemate Woman's Day, managed to leap back to a time where domestic violence was the great unmentionable.
The television interview did not even include help-line number for any viewers who might have identified with the almost invisible victim. It then segued into Two and a Half Men, and that model of misogyny, Charlie Sheen.
Over on Channel Ten, The 7pm Project closed its segment on the Newton fiasco with the words "we wish him a speedy recovery". Similar parting sentiments for Rachael Taylor were conspicuous only by their absence.
While I have the utmost sympathy for Patti Newton, I shall also spare a thought for Satchwell, now reminded of her own nightmare, and for Taylor, whose application for an apprehended violence order alleges long-term abuse by Newton, both physical and mental. And on whom the pressure to back off will have already begun.
Ilsa Evans has a PhD in political and social inquiry; her doctoral thesis was on the long-term effects of domestic violence. Her latest novel, Sticks and Stones, published this month, focuses on one woman's battle with domestic violence.
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