Family Proceedings (Dissolution for Family Violence) Amendment Bill

I move, That the Family Proceedings (Dissolution for Family Violence) Amendment Bill be now read a second time.

This is a bill with many contributors, many people who have helped to bring it into being. I’m going to name four and work a little bit through the contributions that they made to this bill: Charlotte Abrial, who brought a petition to the House; Ashley Jones, who brought another petition to the House and was supported in doing so by Christopher Bishop, now the Hon Christopher Bishop; and, of course, Angie Warren-Clark, who put this bill into the ballot during the last Parliament, and it was drawn from the ballot and had its first reading on the very last member’s day of the last Parliament. Those four people have all had a hand in this bill.

In 2022, the Petitions Committee heard a petition from Charlotte Abrial, which was entitled: “Shorten separation time for divorce in domestic violence Cases”. Charlotte Abrial petitioned the House, saying that “the House of Representatives pass legislation that would shorten the time required for separation before divorce to 6 months in domestic violence cases.” Looking at the report of this petition, we have from the committee saying that “The petitioner told us”—that is the committee—“how difficult the emotional toll can be for victims of violence who want to get out of a marriage, but have to wait for two years. She said that not being divorced means the victim still has a tie to their abuser, and the parties can feel that the victim ‘still belongs to’ the abuser. She said abusers can use this against their spouse, and it affects their mental health.”

Going on from there, the committee was told that “on average, women go back to an abusive spouse approximately seven times before they finally leave. Ms Abrial said that the two-year stand-down period makes leaving an abusive spouse even more difficult because victims feel an obligation to go back and try to work things out. She said that, in many cases, each time the victim returns is worse, as the abuser’s control increases. She also commented that some women are not able to leave again because they may not survive the abuse. This is some of the story that came from Charlotte Abrial, who said that because of this, we ought to have a shorter time to enable divorce in cases of domestic abuse, instead of the current two years that people must wait. That was Charlotte Abrial’s contribution.

Then in 2021, a brave woman, Ashley Jones, started a petition. She started this with the help of Chris Bishop. Her petition was submitted—it was very similar: “Change our archaic divorce laws so abuse victims can be free of their abuser”. Ashley started this petition, but when it actually got to the submission stage of the petition, she felt unable to speak to it, because she had reached a very low point in her journey. She was in a pretty bad space. She just couldn’t do it, so she withdrew her petition. But, then, this bill came into the House, and Ashley was able to put in a submission on the bill.

I’d like to read some of Ashley’s submission into the Hansard, and the reason is that she didn’t get her petition there. So this comes from something the committee heard during the progress of this bill. Ashley says, “Here in New Zealand, we recognise many forms of family violence: physical, sexual, psychological, emotional, spiritual, and financial. Yet I was up against a system that allowed so much of this to continue. There is currently no justice or accountability for those that wish to break the cycle of abuse. I strongly believe if victims were able to file for a divorce, it would remove a lot of the further abuse that continues throughout the two-year stand-down period. Abuse is about power and control, and this current system allows many occasions for the abuser to still maintain that power and control, even in cases where a protection order is in place.”

Something that people who’ve worked in the sector will know well, something she carries on to say, “But when are victims at most risk of their abusers? The National Library of Medicine”—I think this is Australian; no, in New Zealand—“published a 2022 study that cited “Hospital data showed that the time of the greatest risk (for victims to experience further abuse) was from 6 to 12 months before divorce, when divorce is … filed for.” The highest risk period for a victim of abuse is during that two-year stand-down—the two-year stand-down from when a couple separate to when a divorce can proceed. She goes on to say that “Any woman (or man) that has reached the painstaking decision to leave their marriage, has already reached the realisation that there is no reconciliation possible, especially not in cases where abuse is prevalent. But the reality is, for abuse victims the current divorce process is not as simple as a 2 year stand down.” The victim is bound to the abuser.

As I said, I do want to put very much on record that Ashley Jones was supported in her petition, in forming it, by Christopher Bishop. Then Angie Warren-Clark, in her first speech to this House, talked about the process by which she brought the bill here and the difficulties that women can experience. She says, “The thing about this bill”—this bill which would shorten the divorce period in cases of abuse—“is that when you explain to people the origins of it, they say, ‘but I thought that was the law already.’.” Our law was behind the times.

What this bill will do is enable victims of abuse to leave their marriage behind before the two years is up. Now, under existing law, under our no-fault divorce law, when couples have separated for two years, then a divorce is granted. That’s all it takes is the two years. In the 1980s when this became our law, it was radical law. It marked a huge change from the previous law, which revolved around finding fault. They said, “Actually, let’s get away from this finding fault, with the tawdry divorce cases reported in the Truth and so on. Let’s just go to a straight no-fault basis.” But, since then, our understanding of how domestic violence operates has changed. Since then, we’ve become much more aware of the issues, and, actually, since then, I think our attitudes around divorce and the way that we form and dissolve and reform families has changed quite significantly.

There were many people who submitted to this bill, but, universally, they almost said, “Actually, we need to reform our divorce law overall.” Now, that is beyond the scope of a member’s bill, but what this member’s bill will do, if it goes through, is enable—in cases where domestic violence is proved and proven by the granting of a final protection order, then a person can file for a divorce straight away without waiting for the six years to be up. There was strong support for the bill, although in almost all cases—in almost all cases—the submitters felt it should go further. Women’s Refuge supported the bill. The Backbone Collective supported the bill. The New Zealand Council of Christian Social Services supported the bill. Business and Professional Women New Zealand supported the bill. Ruth Money, victim advocate, supported the bill. Many other people supported the bill, and I’ve continued to get emails from women saying, “I need to get out of my relationship now.” If this bill goes through, we will have made a small change that makes a difference.

I wish to thank the members of the Justice Committee, led by James Meager, for the way they examined this bill and the official advisers on the bill. I’d like to thank the people who submitted on it—especially Charlotte, Ashley, the Hon Chris Bishop, and very especially my dear friend Angie Warren-Clark. Angie, who I know is watching, thank you for giving me the honour of seeing this bill through this far on your behalf.

I’m going to end with the words from the commentary to the bill as it was submitted for the first reading. These are Angie’s words, and I think they’re quite powerful. She says, “Everyone deserves to live a life free of violence and all people should have the right to feel safe in a relationship and to leave that relationship if they experience family violence.” I urge this House to support this bill.

Debate interrupted.