MANY ANOMALIES

Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 139, 17 June 1929, Page 10

MANY ANOMALIES

DIVORCE IN AUSTRALIAUNIFYING: THE LAW :, (From "The Post's" Representativej' ■■'rm.'-' V- • SYDNEY, 6th':june:: Ihe decision of the federal Govern* ment to bring all the- States into En*' by unification of the divorce laws of the Commonweal^ hasl been well receivedtor the grounds on which, matrimonial relief may be- granted differwidely and there are many anomalies. However, it is feared in some circles that tha unification will be delayed, for it eaUnot.be said that the Bruce-Page Government is one of action.' Many things that have passed are still left undone ana that are passed are still left undone, ana realising this the Methodist Conference; which has r been .sitting: in' Perth resolved to ask the Federal Government to proceed with this latest reform immediately. ■ • •

For years South Australia has been, regarded as the most retrograde Stato as regards the divorce laws. '.Desertion was not recognised there as a ground for divorce until the Matrimonial Causes Act came into operation last year. The divorce laws differ matei-i. aJly in each State. In New South; Wales it as held by the more conservative that the road to divorce is tod easy. There were 1844 petitions in-this State last- year, and the majority 65 the suits were for the restitution of eon* jugal rights. One of the Judges dok« cribed this the other day as a short cut to divorce, and he- said that'la future he would not grant an. order unless it was clear to him that the party applying for it was sincere in. his "de£ sire that the other should return. It i* claimed that the law as it stands leaves .the. way open, to connivance aud"col^ lusion, and that the proceedings 'are often .a travesty. On au average an undefended suit on these grounds is put through in six minutes, and Mr. 'Jus. tice James put through one such case some months ago in 24 minutes. Habitual drunkenness for three years plus neglect, plus unfituess for aoinestia duties, constitutes 7 "grounds" in Victoria and New South Wales, but not in any other State. Desertion for three years by either husband or wife is suf-' ficient cause for divorce In these two States, but desertion must extend, to five years in Queensland, South Aus-. tialia, and Western Australia. Desertion' is not recognised as a ground in. Tasmania. . If a wife or-husband has been in gaol for not less than threa years preceding the petition for divorce, or_ is still under sentence for a capital crime, or undergoing penal servitude ■ for seven years, the other is entitled to divorce in New South Wales, but these conditions are not allowed as grounds for divorce in any other part of the Commonwealth. ■''„. The terms of the unification are not disclosed, but reformers hope to wipe away altogether the law for the restitution of conjugal rights. But in any; case, the divergent laws are full of inconsistencies, and the proposed extension of. Federal jurisdiction will; do away with many anomalies. .