|
Member for Hume Alby Schultz has once again condemned Australia’s child support legislation and the Child Support Agency over its recent handling of the latest saga in the well documented Liam Magill case.
Liam Magill made legal history in 2002 when he sued his former wife for the damage caused when he discovered that two out of their three children, for which he had been paying child support since 1992, were indeed not his. The final stage of his case is set to be heard in the High Court of Australia within the coming months.
Mr Schultz said the trauma of dealing with the courts and the Child Support Agency has significantly impacted on Liam Magill and that today he relied on his enduring power of attorney, Cheryl King, to act on his behalf in all matters.
“Liam Magill is a man left permanently scarred by the family law and child support systems in this country. He simply can not function normally in his day to day life,” Mr Schultz said.
“He is depressed, does not work and relies entirely on a disability support pension to survive.”
Mr Schultz said Mr Magill received final entitlements from his former employer during 2005, resulting in a change of assessment request being lodged by his former wife.
“Not only has the Child Support Agency chosen to ignore a request that all correspondence be addressed to Mr Magill’s power of attorney, they have also advised Mr Magill that he is not entitled to be represented by a third party, including his power of attorney, for what is sure to be a very emotional and stressful meeting with his former wife,” Mr Schultz said.
“What concerns me however is that the situation seems to have changed significantly since Mr Magill’s last change of assessment in 2001, when he was indeed represented by his power of attorney.
“Given that Mr Magill recently lodged a County Court writ against the Minister for Family and Community Services, The Commonwealth of Australia and the Registrar of the Child Support Agency over their handling of his case, one has to question why the Child Support Agency has suddenly taken this hardline approach,” Mr Schultz said.
“I call on the Minister and his agency to use some commonsense in this case. Liam Magill is unwell. He is not fit to attend this meeting and his health should not be jeopardised.”
|
