What the M.P.s were saying Simpler, cheaper divorce seen

Press, 11 August 1980, Page 2

What the M.P.s were saying Simpler, cheaper divorce seen

The term divorce had been removed from New Zealand law- with the introduction of the Family Proceedings No. 2 Bill, the Labour member for Christchurch Central, Mr G. W. R. Palmer, told Parliament last week. The bill makes irreconcilable differences resulting in the parties living apart for two years, the only ground for divorce. The biggest single change is the introduction of no-fault divorce. Mr Palmer said the measure would make divorce simpler, cheaper, and less of an ordeal for the people involved. The bill reflected a shift away from divorce as the central conflict in marriage breakdown to the custody of children and access to them. . . ..The select-‘committee hac not been able to reconcile the many submissions on custody and access, and hac settled for the best mix. The bill might not last much more than a decade because society was changing rapidly. More change has taken place in family law since 1960 than had probably occurred in thd previous 4C years.' ~ , The Guardianship Amendment Bill banished the mother principle in custody disputes: clause eight made the welfare of the child the paramount consideration, e fine of $lOOO for a paren HlTldCriHj

access was not a provision with which the select committee was happy, but it had been unable to devise anything better. • ' Provisions on family courts would remove the adversary element by eliminating formal attire, ensuring the ' appointment of judges temperamentally suited, ana providing counselling and support services. If the last were not provided adequately and in timely fashion” family courts would nOt come up to expectations. The Labour member for St Albans, Mr D. F. Caygill, said the success of family courts depended on Government funding, atmosphere, the. quality of judges, and the way in which proceedings were conducted. He regretted that the Family Proceedings Bill did not • extend legal aid to parties dissolving their marriages.

Drugs amendment Mr Palmer said that the Misuse of Drugs Amendment | Bill came “perilously close’’ I to legislating for the forfeiture of all an offender’s worldly goods. It put wide powers in the hands of the Minister of Justice. Mr Palmer asked whether the purpose of extended powers of forfeiture was to convict more people or to deter drug dealing by making punishment more severe. Evidence was needed to show the harsher provisions would act as a deterrent, he said. The provision of no time limit on the laying of charges was dangerous in that evidence could be old and shaky. The bill’s including the armed forces in substance analysis implied that offences committed by members of the armed services had perhaps not been capable of prosecution. On forfeiture it was not clear whether a joint owner of an offender’s property could retain his interest or also had to forfeit it. Share of fines Mr Caygill said that the Public Finance Amendment Bill made the mistake of reducing local-authority incentives to prosecute for contravention- •of bylaws. Clause six of the bill raised : the amount deducted by the Government from fines col-, lected through local-author; • ity prosecutions to 10 per '■ cent.'

Coast unemployment The Labour member for the West Coast, Mr'T. K. Burke, said the Government’s decision to allow cheaper imports to undercut production at the Lane, Walker, Rudkin factory in Hokitika and the threat ol textile ■' restructuring were behind the company’s deer

sion to close down. This had created , unemployment that was not being taken up by the export of Buller coal to Japan. The government should have proposals for West Coast industry based on the coal instead of employing the Japanese.' • West Coasters would be compensated- for the loss of ! their coal if its. . export resulted in the building of ; a major port in the region > that would unlock-other deIvelopment opportunities.

“My people do not want a hole left in the ground at the end of the day,” said Mr The Government tried to claim that New Zealand had one of the lowest unemployment rates in the world but, on a conservative figure, New Zealand’s record was worse than that of the United States, Canada, Britain, and Australia.

Smelter defended The National member for Marlborough, Mr D. L. Kidd, said the Opposition now had no valid argument against-a second aluminium smelter in the South Island.

Only the standard regional investment of 20 per cent on plant and machinery would be available to the smelter consortium. Incentive allowances would be only those permitted by law and these did not cover ingot aluminium (which would have provided $l3 million in tax relief) or the 40 per cent export-incentive allowance (which would have had a value of about $5O million). The venture did not qualify, because of its size, for export suspensory loans, regio n a l-development suspensory loans, or. the 25 pet cent electricity concession. “What is more, the law Will not be changed to grant them,” said Mr Kidd. g : An escalation clause cd* vering inflationary increases in the cost of electricity would work independently of the consortium’s performance. - ■ . . v -'S .

New technology Mr Burke asked the Minister of Labour (Mr Bolger) whether the Minister intended to introduce legislation making it obligatory for employers introducing new technology to negotiate such introductuion with workers;

Mr Bolger said it was not the Government’s intention to bring in legislation: the collective-bargaining system was the most suitable forum. The printing, motorassembly, and insurance sectors were negotiating new-technology agreements at present. The impact of new technology differed widely in individual . cases and should not be subject to the blanket statutory, provisions.