Pauline Hanson (Queensland, Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party) Share this | Hansard source

I have concerns about this bill, the Federal Courts Legislation Amendment (Judicial Immunity) Bill 2023, and on behalf of the Australian people I'm going to make my concerns known. It may sound good, but we had the Family Court and the Federal Circuit Court, and that's because the two courts were separated. We had the Federal Circuit Court, which dealt with more important issues like international law and property settlements. Those cases that were not settled in the lower courts were brought to the upper court. The Family Court was basically a lot of judges to deal with family law and migration issues, and they became the Federal Circuit and Family Court. The two courts were merged under the coalition government, which I fully supported as I think it was a good move. My concern and the concern of the Australian people about this legislation is giving these judges immunity on their decisions. That concerns me. How will they be held to account?

I was told people can appeal. But usually, after they have gone through the family law courts, they are drained. A lot of people cannot take it anymore. Fed up with the court system, they actually are desperate. They've probably sold their home, so they have nowhere to live, and their finances are at rock bottom. They are at rock bottom themselves, and it seems a decision can be handed down by a judge who cannot then be held to account for the decision. A lot of these parents that are brought before the family law court—and I have dealt with them over the years—are really so distraught because most of the time a lot of these parents don't even get to see their children. They have no time with their children, and that is the decision of the courts. Why aren't the judges held to account? You can say they can appeal, but, like I said, they can't afford to appeal. Who will hold these judges to account? These judges must be held to account, just as I believe that bureaucrats should be held to account and politicians should be held to account on decisions that are made that have an impact on the Australian people. I think that just saying, 'No, let's treat them all the same and give them immunity,' means that people don't have recourse.

They say you can appeal; you can write and say, 'The judge didn't read these papers,' or, 'The judge made the wrong decision.' How are they going to prove that? How are you actually going to say to a judge, 'You didn't read it'? It's his word against yours that he read it. That's the decision he's made. How is a person going to hold a judge to account when appealing their sentence? It's not going to happen. We all know that. A lot of these judges are a protected species, the same as bureaucrats and politicians. I think there has to be some accountability for the people of this nation.

We see what happens to a lot of these families. The Labor government just passed their Family Law Amendment Bill, which I opposed as well. As I kept saying, where is the accountability there? You talk about the rights of the child, yet you forget to talk about the rights of the parents to see their children. But it's like, 'Oh well; it's just the rights of the child.' No-one could even answer the questions in this place. You just go back to the same old hearsay about the rights of the child. Where are the rights of the Australian people to have that protection?

What I'm hearing also is that some parents are fed up with the decisions that deny their rights to see their children for years on end for no real reason whatsoever. They've been blocked, or they can't afford to take it back to court to get some justice. They are absolutely devastated. Where are their rights? You deny them their rights, but you actually want to protect the judges. You want to give them immunity—from what? It's immunity from the people being able to hold them to account. I don't get it; I don't understand. And this is being supported by both sides of parliament. I don't know how the Greens or the crossbench feel about this. But I just don't feel it's right. People should have the opportunity to hold these judges to account.

I've heard also, 'Well, the judges will be in fear of handing down their decisions because there's not going to be immunity.' I hear of a class action against some of these judges and the decisions being made. If you actually bring this in, they will not be able to have a class action against these judges and the decisions that they've made, so, for the Australian people, you're shutting down an opportunity to hold them accountable for the decisions that they have made. This affects so many families and so many people out there. I'd like this to go to committee. I would like to be able to ask the minister some questions with regard to this. I won't be supporting this to be shut down. I'd like it to go to committee so that I can ask some further questions of the minister with regard to this bill.