Family Court (Family Court Associates) Legislation Bill

Thank you, Madam Speaker. It’s a pleasure to rise to speak in support of the Family Court (Family Court Associates) Legislation Bill. I won’t say the phrase that we’ve all been saying across the House repeatedly, but delay is really bad for justice, and it is a breach of justice. It is well known as being the plague of justice systems that marginalises those who to attempt access our fair and transparent systems, which this should be.

The Family Court deals with some of the most difficult issues of our justice system. It deals with abuse issues, it deals with issues that sometimes spill over into the criminal jurisdiction, which is where my experience of dealing with the Family Court came in, in the criminal courts, but it also deals with really important property rights, custody and access rights to children, and helps people to traverse a period of their lives that very emotionally burdens them. And so we have a duty of care to everyone who tries to access our system of justice at that point.

I do want to say that the delay has become a source of abuse and trauma, and I think others have said this, and it is true. So as well as being a rights breach, we are, in fact, causing further trauma and re-traumatising further those who are already in very distressed circumstances as they try to access our Family Court system. And it’s for a lack of resource that that has been happening for years and years now.

I do want to acknowledge, as others have done, that the Family Court system has been pointed out to us as a House of Representatives and in select committee on issues to do with this court. In particular it has been used as a source or tool of abuse in an ongoing situation where those who access the Family Court system are already involved in dynamics that have power imbalances, that have abuse issues, and that have economic imbalances that can be reflected in the way that this delay then manifests in further traumatisation of victims. It is our duty as a House of Representatives to ensure that legislation goes forward to manifest in a fair and just and transparent way.

And as someone who has worked also in a child rights context in our system of justice, I would say that, in particular, the breaches of rights that the delay in the Family Court processes has caused have impacted on children and young people. It has meant that their rights, wellbeing, and viewpoint haven’t been centred in the process, which is a legal obligation of us all—pursuant to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and to legislation that we’ve adopted that has said that we will, in fact, centre the rights, wellbeing, and views of children in all matters that impact them. This can’t be done when delays go on and on for years on end. As we know, a young person’s life magnifies that delay in time. So to be without access to a parent or to be forced to have access with a parent that isn’t fit to be the caretaker of that child can cause a magnified harm that we are here to protect young people against and that this system is there to protect young people against.

I do want to say—because others have touched on issues with the Family Court—that, yes, it was gutted years ago, and we all remember that. Those of us in the justice sector who took that Government and that Minister of Justice to court and won, remember that? I want to remind my Labour Party colleagues that the Bar Association took the then Minister of Justice, the Hon Judith Collins, to court on judicial review and won, having the finding from the Court of Appeal that the legal aid system she’d instituted was unlawful for prioritising cost cutting over what was the only legislative purpose that her delegation allowed, which was to provide fair and high-quality legal services. That system is still in place, and it hasn’t in fact been addressed. The court’s concerns still remain. So free access to mediation through the legal aid system to prevent cases from being forced into the Family Court—that still remains. A lack of access to legal aid for those who can’t afford high-quality legal services in both the criminal and Family Court systems still remains.

So if we did address those resourcing issues, I think we would be in a better place to say that with this bill, with the allocation of resource to the Family Court Associates, we are truly addressing not only the delay, but a fair, transparent, and accessible system of justice for all those who need to access the Family Court would be in place. So this is a good first step, but there’s a lot more to go, and all of that requires resource. I do look forward to the Budget tomorrow where I hope that there is more resource for a system of justice that we can truly say does not delay or abuse justice but creates a fair, accessible, and equal system for New Zealanders. I commend the bill to the House.

I call Emily Henderson—no, no. No; Helen White.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I will take a very short call and let everyone go home. What I want to say about this bill—first of all, I actually commend my friend Emily Henderson, whose passion you heard and who I actually respect for that passion. It brought her to the House. It was things like the delays in the Family Court that brought her here. My ex-husband was a Family Court lawyer, and it was very distressing when that happened, so it’s really nice to see something that’s going through that will really look at that problem and fix it. I really like the fact that there’s a review that will come in after five years, when we have five years of data, to make sure we’re doing the right thing and we’re getting it right, and that’s good for all New Zealanders. I commend this bill to the House. Good night.

Members, the time has come for me to leave the chair. The House is resumed at 2 p.m. tomorrow.

Debate interrupted.

The House adjourned at 9.57 p.m.