Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations) Share this | Hansard source

The point of the line of questioning that both Senator Hanson and I are pursuing is in relation to the body of evidence that was taken into consideration by the Attorney-General in making his decision—because it would appear that it was his decision—to remove the presumption in its entirety. Based on the evidence, that decision would appear to go against the weight of the evidence. In particular the Australian Law Reform Commission recommended that it be redrafted. As I said, we all accept that it needs to be redrafted, but there is considerable angst in relation to the removal of the presumption altogether and the fact that, as we move through report after report after report, the Attorney-General has not acted consistent with recommendations of previous reports.

We'll now go to the body of evidence and look at the two reports by the Family Law Council on families with complex needs in 2015 and 2016. Was the decision to remove the presumption a decision the Attorney made because of a recommendation in either of those reports?