Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Hansard source

I'll take the interjection from Senator Scarr. The reason we are having this discussion is that it wasn't fixed under the previous government during the 10 years that they were in government. So any time you want to ask that, feel free.

But this is a serious matter, Senator Tyrrell. People deserve proper access to family and circuit court services no matter where they live. I will undertake to provide you with some information about that, but I'm sure you're aware of the efforts that the Attorney-General in particular has undertaken to boost Family Court access for all Australians no matter where they live.

We remember that under the former government not only did Burnie and the north-west of Tasmania not have those services, but in fact it was the former government that abolished the Family Court. That's how little they cared for the Family Court, whether it was in Burnie or anywhere else. And it would appear they're unrepentant of their action to abolish the Family Court. And it has been proven that this action has created worse outcomes for Australians. We, of course, recognise that the Family Court does need improvements and did need improvements, but the solution to that was not to abolish the court in its entirety, which was exactly what the former government did.