Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Finance) | Hansard source

Labor will not be supporting this inquiry. For six months now the government has been sitting on the comprehensive report by the Australian Law Reform Commission into the Family Court system. This is a report that this government itself commissioned in September 2017. This and other reviews have already identified the problems facing the family courts, as well as the hardship, and in some cases the tragedy, these problems are causing for thousands of Australian families. Women are being murdered every week in Australia, and children are dying as a result of family violence. Labor cannot support any proposal to further delay or undermine action on this critical issue. We are especially disturbed by statements this morning that the purpose of the inquiry has been predetermined, even before the parliament had agreed it should go ahead, and in particular the focus on attacking women who report allegations of family violence.