Derryn Hinch (Victoria, Derryn Hinch's Justice Party) Share this | Hansard source

When I was a print, radio and television reporter and commentator, before I jumped the shark and came here, I received hundreds, maybe thousands, of emails. There were two words that you dreaded in an email detailing family problems or legal scandals. Those two words were, and still are, 'Family Court'. It meant, as a journalist, there were legal areas you couldn't touch and stories you just couldn't touch, even though there were details of children going through hell as their mothers and fathers fought their way through the Family Court; children being treated like pawns in a game of heartbreaking and cruel human chess; hard-earned savings and assets disappearing, lost to the lawyers as cases dragged on for years. These days, with a shortage of judges and two out of three marriages ending in divorce, some cases don't even get to court for three years. Ultimately it is the children of these families that go to court who are being hurt the most. These prolonged delays result in uncertainty and instability in the lives of mere children.

We all know the family law system is broken. This information is not new. Unless there is significant reform, the family law system will remain broken. We need this review. That is why I offer the Justice Party's full support for a fully funded review conducted by the Australian Law Reform Commission. I have met personally several times with the Chief Justice of the Family Court, Chief Justice Bryant, and she has echoed many of our concerns. I'm hoping that when she retires in a couple of months time she'll echo some of them even more.

I know the government has budgeted for some more court registrars, but that's not enough. I know that several national parties, including One Nation and the Justice Party, have been pushing for a royal commission into the continuing failures and frailties of the Family Court system. I know I criticised Pauline Hanson at the Melbourne Press Club last year, not because of her fears about court failings—as though her fears weren't well founded—but because she was advocating the abolition of the Family Court, to be replaced by a citizens' tribunal. I opposed that and still oppose it on the grounds it would be unconstitutional. That veteran child protection advocate Hetty Johnston, the founder of Bravehearts, has also called many times for a royal commission into the family law system. When she heard this morning that this issue was going to be raised here today, brought on by One Nation, she texted me and said: 'Get stuck into them, Derryn. I'm speaking right around the country these days, and I never miss a chance to get stuck in. Brandis lied to me and to every child in this country when he said he "couldn't" have a royal commission because of the Constitution, when the truth was that he "wouldn't"—and that's not good enough. The government, I believe, lied to every child in this country, and they stole the futures of many, many thousands of them in refusing to have this royal commission. So don't let the government off the hook. Children's lives literally are at stake, Derryn. This is no time for niceties. Let them have it.'

So I would say today that, in the absence of this much overdue royal commission, this Law Reform Commission review is the next best thing we can have. To be effective, this review, conducted by the Australian Law Reform Commission, needs to have specific but broad-ranging terms of reference and must be sufficiently funded. For that reason, and those reasons, I back this proposal.