Ngaro Alfred: Family Court Proceedings Reform Bill — Second ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeNgaro Alfred: Family Court Proceedings Reform Bill — Second Reading[Sitting date: 02 July 2013. Volume:691;Page:11545. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]ALFRED NGARO (National):E rau rangatira mā tēnā koutou. Ki aku nui ki āku rahi tēnā koutou katoa.[To the esteemed of a hundredfold greetings to you collectively. To all my superiors and numerous hello there. ]That speech by Metiria Turei was probably the worst grandstanding speech heard in this House for over 50 years or by me as a new member. What concerns me is that that member can walk out of the House and can make those assertions. Yet if she was really serious about doing something about it she would have subbed on to the Justice and Electoral Committee she would have heard over 270 oral submissions and she would have made a contribution that makes a difference. Instead we just heard a whole lot of gobbledegook. But what is of most concern is that she uses the statistics of everyday men women and children who are suffering under family violence and what the Minister of Justice has done in her wise leadership is look at a bill that will actually address these issues.In April 2011 Cabinet directed the Minister of Justice to undertake a review of the Family Court. This included the concerns raised by the public judges lawyers and counsellors. This was a wide consultation of all those key stakeholders and this is what they said. They found that the Family Court was adversarial at times placing additional stress on already strained relationships; it was negative for children and not focused enough on their needs; it was not focused enough on the most serious cases of domestic violence that were talked about; it spent too much time on simple private matters that are better resolved outside of court; and it was too complex and too difficult to resolve these disputes. The purpose then of the Family Court Proceedings Reform Bill is to ensure a modern and accessible for families justice system that is responsive to children and vulnerable people and is effective in that regard. We have heard about the growing costs over there rising up to 70 percent—from about $84 million to $142 million—and yet the number of applications for court proceedings has been lower.I want to just actually talk about some of the concerns that have been raised. I note that Mr Little talked about Christchurch where we heard some of the submissions. He regarded it as a bit of a shame that we heard from one of the members of the expert panel which was Mr Garry Collin. He spoke there. In fact—I want to give the fullness of that story—he talked about the good things in the bill and the intent of the bill. He applauded that. There was one aspect that he was concerned about which was new section 7A. So I just want to give the full picture. You are absolutely right Mr Little; there were concerns. But there were also some areas that the expert panel of judges of those in the judicial system and of counsellors as well who actually gave an overall picture around recommendations that have been followed through.Just very quickly Family Court lawyers said: “The new system is a complex maze of procedures with different entry points criteria and exemptions.” So here is the response that is coming through from this bill. The reforms will support people to resolve disputes out of court where appropriate. Improved information services simplified contracts and easy-to-use forms will be available to help people navigate the parts of the court system independently. The bill still removes the right of a party to choose to be legally represented in all Family Court processes which was also talked about. In court people can have a lawyer represent them in complex matters such as for a defended hearing or without-notice applications. Judges will be able to allow lawyers to participate early in the court process if it would increase the chances of successful resolution.The reform was talked about in regards to counsellors. I know about and have supported the work of the counsellors as was talked about by Mrs Dalziel and the importance of their role. So there is a concern at the reduction in the level ofcounselling. We heard from Relationships Aotearoa in its submission. It talked about the fact that counsellors were contracted for four sessions but they were averaging three sessions in all. So here is the response from this bill and from the select committee. Currently pre-court taxpayer-funded counselling is available to anyone on request for up to 3 hours. Under the reforms the current focus on private relationship issues will be replaced by a focus on resolving parenting issues and reducing conflict for the benefit of the children.I also want to commend the Minister the chairman of the select committee and members of the select committee because we went the extra mile. We actually even had a session on Parenting through Separation. We saw the importance of this role around information that was given so that the impact on children was clearly understood by parents in that situation.My final comments are this. We know that children are often at the heart of these matters. They are the ones who are most vulnerable. These reforms are designed in a way to improve the system for it to be accessible. Where possible where these disputes can be addressed outside of the court system they should be. That is simply what we are doing here. We are responding to the concerns and ensuring that there is a clear and direct process that is accessible. We hope and we know that it will truly make a difference to the lives of these children who often go through very difficult circumstances. I commend this bill to the House.