Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Northern Australia) Share this | Hansard source

I thought it was probably important that Labor outline our position in relation to the Greens amendments. Labor supports these amendments on the basis that this parliament should always be calling on the government to increase resources to a family law system that this government has starved of resources. Of course, the way in which additional resources can be allocated most efficiently is a fundamentally important question. Labor does not support this bill. We do not support the new court structure the government has put forward, so Labor has not considered whether increasing to 40 the number of judges in Division 1 would, if this were to pass the parliament, be the best way of allocating additional resources. This does not represent Labor policy. Our commitments that we take to the Australian people will be considered in the usual way and will be made public before the next election. However, we support this amendment because, at the very least, that is a matter that this government should be required to consider.

While I'm on my feet I might just pose a question to the minister. The government claims that these bills will increase court efficiency. How many judicial vacancies are there currently on the Federal Circuit Court?