Speeches at the tabling of the JSC report

11/8/99 Harris (ON) speaks on child support and family law in his maiden speech.

7/12/98 Hollis (ALP) speaks out on Child Support Scam.

7/12/98 Neville (Nat) speaks out on Family Court and Child Support Scam.

10/10/96 Wakelin (Lib) Child Support and second families

10/10/96 Hanson (ON) asks a question. Treasurer Costello (Lib) evades the question by ripping into a "deadbeat dad" strawman.

2/9/93 Atkinson (Lib) "I am concerned that the Child Support Agency seems to be operating as an unguided missile, and that it is making decisions on people's lives without consideration of the facts and individual circumstances."

[ED - 6 years later CSA still is an unguided missile. Government has run away from the most important recommendations of the JSC report]

Feature - the tabling of the Joint Select Committee report in the Senate - 5/12/94

5/12/94 Reid (Lib).	I have no doubt, from the number of complaints that I received about the way that people were treated, that it was not people's imagination, that people were made to feel like criminals and made to feel that they were in the wrong when they made inquiries and in many other ways.
5/12/94 Carr (ALP).	The Child Support Agency has now been in operation for 6 1/2 years. It was established on 1 June 1988, and it is appropriate that this parliament undertake a comprehensive review of its operations. Given the level of public interest, as measured by the 6,197 submissions, it is quite clear that this review is long overdue. The largest number of submissions that has ever been received by a parliamentary committee was presented to this committee and reflected very deep concerns within the community about the nature of this scheme.
5/12/94 Spindler (Dem).	The inaction and lack of service to clients, which is reflected in the way in which clients are dealt with by this agency, is really quite appalling and it is inexcusable that this has been allowed to go on for some considerable length of time.
5/12/94 Neal (ALP).	There was a lot of debate within the committee about whether it would cost as much to bring up a child as the child support formula provided. Opinion was quite divided. Being the parent of a couple of small children, I am not astonished by any costs involved in bringing up a child. I am of the view that in most cases no amount of child support can fully satisfy all the needs of the child, but it must take into account the capacity of the parents to pay--in particular the capacity of the non-custodial parent.
5/12/94 Brownhill (Nat).	Many of the 163 recommendations ought not to have been necessary had the federal government taken appropriate care when establishing the Child Support Agency. It would seem to me that the need to reduce Commonwealth expenditure has, over time, forced unfair financial constraints on parents, especially the non-custodial parent. The committee was provided with ample evidence of this many times. The Child Support Agency is beyond minor repair. It is in need of major surgery. Whether the government is up to the task, we will wait and see.

House of Reps

5/12/94 Price (ALP).