THE HON MARK DREYFUS QC MP
SHADOW ATTORNEY-GENERAL
SHADOW MINISTER FOR THE ARTS
MEMBER FOR ISAACS
MEDIA RELEASE
BRANDIS MUST COME CLEAN OVER COURT CUTS
Australian families stand to suffer even more from the Abbott Governments cuts to the Federal Circuit Court which will impact on thousands of family law cases.
There are reports today that the appointment of at least one Federal Circuit Court Judge has been delayed by a year, with a further 12 judges expected to retire over the next 12 months.
It is inexplicable that family law cases could be left unresolved for years because of the Abbott Governments refusal to appoint judges.
Senator Brandis must immediately release the secret KPMG report he commissioned into the performance and funding of the court system.
Details of the recommendations have been reported in the media, including the call for emergency funding of $5 million, but the Government has refused to publicly release the report.
Just before the election the Abbott Government promised to cut $30 million from the Family Court by streamlining the system.
There's no doubt that further cuts will certainly increase pressure on an already stretched court system.
Delays to court proceedings due to a lack of available judges is simply unacceptable.
Last year Labor appointed new Family Court and Federal Circuit Court judges to the Parramatta Registry and our the last Budget funded three additional Federal Court judges.
FRIDAY, 7 NOVEMBER 2014
