David Fawcett (Wakefield, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is addressed to the Attorney-General. Would the Attorney-General update the House on the government’s efforts to reform the family law system, and are there any alternative policies?

Philip Ruddock (Berowra, Liberal Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the honourable member for Wakefield for his question because I know that he, like many members of this House, is vitally interested in the implementation of substantial family law reforms. On 8 December I introduced a bill into this House containing the most significant changes to family law in over 30 years. It was derived from valuable work that had been undertaken in this chamber by committees—the first chaired by the honourable member for Riverina and the second by the honourable member for Fisher—proposing reform in this area. I regarded both of those reports very highly and have been pleased to see substantial implementation of the recommendations contained in them.

I am keen to see the support of the sort that we saw in the results of the two committees—bipartisan support for these measures—but I notice that, notwithstanding the substantial agreement, there was not total agreement to those measures. The member for Gellibrand, the shadow attorney, for example, had a different view to some of her colleagues in relation to those matters when they were dealt with in the excellent report from the House committee. She did say that she was going to spend the summer break going through the bill line by line. I am pleased to see the member for Gellibrand back from her summer break and, after the 63 days that she has had to go through the bill line by line, I am still waiting to hear the result of all that effort.

I know sometimes we have to wait for these contributions. I know that one of her colleagues, Senator Hogg, who was asked to comment on these matters recently told a constituent that Labor is working on its policy, which will be released before the next election. I hope we do not have to wait that long. I also hope it is not an indication of where the Labor Party stands that, after the two largely bipartisan reports, extensive consultation and public submissions, the Labor Party has facilitated a further committee review in the Senate which will not report until next March. This means that thousands of mothers, fathers, grandparents and friends who support the reforms and want certainty in the new arrangements and who certainly do not want to see these measures delayed will see such a delay facilitated by this further Senate review. There are thousands of children who deserve better outcomes when their parents separate. This government wants to get on with the job of improving our family law system and wants to get it done expeditiously.