Newman Muriel: General Debates 
Newman Muriel: General Debates 
[Volume:609;Page:6152] 
Dr MURIEL NEWMAN (ACT NZ) 
: 
 Yesterday the Government tabled its Care of Children Bill. It was a long awaited response to concerns that New Zealand has faced over family law. In particular this House has heard of the need to introduce shared parenting into our legislation and to open up the Family Court—both of those issues were addressed in members’ bills that I brought into Parliament and both were voted against by the Labour Government—and this bill fails to do either. It is an absolute disgrace. The changes it has made to the Family Court are simply Clayton’s changes.  
New Zealanders deserve open justice and a free press. They are fundamental to the democratic process yet the New Zealand Family Court operates like a Star Chamber. It puts gagging orders on all the people involved. Victims are not allowed to talk about their experience. The media cannot report on the cases—they all fear criminal convictions or being thrown in jail. We even have a member of this House right now who was threatened by those same things simply because he wanted to talk about a family who was a victim of the Family Court. I say that that is an absolute disgrace. There is a long established principle that justice is not done unless it is seen to be done. New Zealand needs an open Family Court. We need proper media and public scrutiny of what goes on in that court while protecting the identity of individuals just like in Australia. In Australia there would not be the debacle of a case that is in and out of the courts. I refer to a matrimonial property dispute that started 7 years ago in the Family Court. It has been to the High Court and the Court of Appeal a number of times then back to the Family Court. There have been 53 hearings altogether over that case which has been going on for 7 years. The personal cost to the family involved is over $1 million and the cost to the taxpayer will be several million dollars. If that case had been open to proper scrutiny I believe that it certainly would have been sorted out many many years ago. 
 There is also the case of the custodial parent who lost his children to the mother who wanted to go and live in a caravan in Ireland taking the three young children away from their dad away from the grandparents away from everyone they knew to go to the other side of the world. That was an absolutely amazing judgment. Again this is a family that is torn apart. They cannot speak about it openly and I say it is a disgrace. Another case is of the father who had an ex parte protection order slapped on him for his new baby. He did not get to see that child until the child was almost a year old and when he finally had his day in court he found that the allegation was false. It was thrown out and meanwhile that dad had lost all those important years with his child.  
If countries have an open court they find that the number of false allegations falls through the floor. The number of cases of litigation peels away because people look and see what is ahead of them and they sort it out by mediation. There are no drawbacks to having a proper open court in New Zealand no drawbacks at all as long as the identities of individuals are protected and that is what should happen in this country. It would be a fairer system to all involved. Judges lawyers and caseworkers would all be subjected to proper scrutiny and held to account. There would be less litigation less cost to the taxpayer and better outcomes for children. It is an absolute disgrace that with this bill the Care of Children Bill—which could actually have done those things—the Labour Government has failed. All the bill says to me is that Labour does not care about children Labour does not care about families and Labour does not care about proper justice in New Zealand. This Government is a disgrace.  
Open justice and free speech are the right of every New Zealander. We need proper scrutiny of our courts. The only court in New Zealand that is not subjected to proper scrutiny is the court that deals with families and children. It is the Family Court that operates like a Star Chamber—no other. The victims of that court do not have an opportunity to have their say. I say it is a disgrace and the Labour members sitting there had the opportunity to change it. They had the opportunity to do something worthwhile for justice in New Zealand. This Government has absolutely failed. So I add my voice to the voices of the Opposition who say that change must be made in the future.