Now here we are with this catastrophic intervention into the court being rushed through in the dying days of 2020. Labor and the Greens have said they will not support the bill. That leaves the five crossbenchers who are all at twos and threes. At least one senator’s office was told the vote would not be this year. Another senator has made opposition to the bill plain. And Rex Patrick is nominated by others as the man most likely to roll but he says no one has called him for a meeting.
"In my darker moments, I think they have this idea to undo the Family Court and they don’t like being frustrated. This move suits the forces of darkness," he says. "Abolishing a court where the only focus it has is on family and children is not the way to fix the current problem. The complexities of the issues among separated families have increased over the last few decades. To merge the Family Court with a generalist court diminishes the seriousness of the response. It will put women and children at risk. It is about nothing more than ideology.