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You’ll Wonder Where the Money Went

19

by Mary W Maxwell, LLB

Yesterday I waltzed into the Children’s Court of SA at 75 Wright St., in the once-beautiful Adelaide. The first thing I saw – and which just about sums up the whole thing – was a sign pasted on the window of the receptionist’s office.

It merely said “The price of photocopying, per page is……”

May I ask you to hazard a guess as to whether they follow the Office Works price of 10 cents per page, or the public library’s fee of 20 cents per page?

Come on, which do you reckon?

Deep Sadness

When I was growing up, I never knew of the deep sadness that was other people’s portion.  I didn’t realize that for many, a whole life could be lived under oppression. I did know that dissidents in Latin America who tried to fight for justice lived in fear of that knock on the door that would be followed by torture.

In the last 8 months, working with the Protective parents, it all became “normal” to me to understand that government can be cruel.  I now see how dose after dose of pain can be handed out, sometimes in subtle ways.

Maybe you have had the experience of signing up to pay an already exorbitant bill, online, only to be asked at the end of the transaction if you agree to them taking a “credit card fee” of, say, 2% of the bill.

Anyway, I can now announce that if you need 10 pages photocopied at the Children’s Court you are up for $49.  That’s because each page is a whopping 4 dollars and ninety cents, not 20 cents like at the library.

See what I mean? It is pure unadulterated oppression.  And now you see why, as I passed down Wright St, I had the notion of “the once beautiful Adelaide.”

Clearly a city can’t be beautiful if numerous employees at the Children’s Court see that sign everyday “$4.90 per page” and never throw a hissy fit. They never grab that sign down from the wall and yell “I will not tolerate this utter meanness toward families who are already in pain.”

Federal Government Regulations – Family Law (Fees) Regulations 2012

The Children’s Court fees are set by SA Parliament.  The feds set the fees for Family Court (except WA which runs its own Family Court).  Here is a sample as of 2018:

FILING FEES

Application for consent orders $165

Initiating Application (Parenting OR Financial, Final only) $345

Initiating Application (Parenting OR Financial, Final AND Interim) $465

Initiating Application (Parenting AND Financial, Final AND Interim) $685

Response to initiating application (Final) $345

Interim order application/Application in a case (Parenting AND/OR Financial) $120

Notice of appeal to the full court including an appeal from the Federal Circuit Court         $1360

Application for leave to appeal  $1360

COURT EVENT FEES

Setting down for hearing fee (defended matter) (This fee is not refundable)           $860

Daily hearing fee (for each hearing day, excluding the first hearing day) $860

Conciliation conference $395

“If you hold certain Government concession cards or you can demonstrate financial hardship, you may be eligible for reduced fees.   Payment for filing and court event fees can be made in registries via: eftpos, debit card, or by mail.”

Transcripts

When I was in Queensland last week, I heard, but did not quite believe, that if you want to appeal your case (re parenting) you MUST get the transcripts of your case and that these coast one thousand dollars per day of court chatter.

(Do you recall I was told at the coronial inquest for Lindt Café siege that I could get the whole set for the bargain-basement price of $65,000?)

Anyway, It’s true.  It’s also the case that barristers can ask for $13,000 a day for their hard (and fruitless) work.

What Solzhenitsyn Saw

Gumshoe, in 2015, ran an excerpt from the Gulag Archipelago, in which Alexandr Solzhenitsyn observed the expanding nature of interpersonal cruelty. Once it starts, it is hard to stop.

Recall the ex-prisoner at the railroad station who was lying in the snow with a bare chest as he had been sent home from prison but did not have the right paperwork to buy the train ticket.  An “auntie” gave him a piece of bread but she was bawled out by the guard for doing so.

I hereby guarantee that is what we are creating for the young generation. A life of deep sadness and ubiquitous meanness.

Hey, you judges at Children’s Courts – Your Honourable Honours – I realize you did not set the fees, but it would take you only about ten minutes to put a stop to this practice. Do it. It will release opioids in your brain and you will feel great.

MABA.  MABA.

Make Adelaide Beautiful Again.

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19 COMMENTS

  1. Faaaar be it from me to engage in any ex parte messaging, but if I could send a certain judge a message this would be it: There is a balm in Adelaide, to make the wounded whole.

    (Probably there is one in Cairns and Wollongong and everywhere, but I am only cognizant of my own environs.)
    Nuf said.
    .

  2. In days gone bye, in UK highwaymen were hung or shot. We have highwaymen or woman in every government of Australia today, but instead of being treated as criminals they are paid extremely good salaries and bonuses.

    Where does all these ill-gotten gains go, as the Commonwealth and all States are financially bankrupt, that is, all have massive debt.

    Like Mary, I personally found out the unrealistic prices put on transcripts from the NSW Coronial Court. After paying roughly a thousand dollars for particular evidence I was supplied with other than I requested, and then they refused to supply the actual transcript that I had asked for. You see the con is that you don’t get to read the information that they are going to send you, before you pay up. So I paid that enormous fee to NOT get the information I paid for. WHAT A SCAM!

    I imagine people going through the Family Court procedures are pushed from one step to another, simply to be fleeced of the fees.

  4. Thank you for bringing these obscene family court fees to our attention Mary. Much like the ‘poverty fees’ that banks apply to accounts which are overdrawn, the family court fee system seems set up in bias against those on a low income. It makes departmental child stealing that much easier.

    • Rachel, I once went berserk over the bank in NH phoning me several times a day over a$35 overdraw, when in fact they had plenty of my funds that they could have drawn from. They acted like it was an emergency.

      It could only have been planned harassment “just for the hell of it.”

      I was sorry to learn later that the bank (Citizens Bank) was owned by the Royal Bank of Scotland. You would think they were above that sort of thing.

      But if Tavistock trains, Tavistock trains.

      STOP TAVISTOCK TRAINING.

  5. Someone named Sarah just posted this under the ABC article about Pell-in-court:

    “Justice Kidd’s sentencing address was an example of why we should treasure our justice system, warts and all. Thankful he chose to broadcast it live and in full. Many will benefit from understanding how the courts work.”

    i sure agree with the last bit: “Many will benefit from understanding how the courts work.” Yay!

  6. I have been writing and exposing the torturous conduct of the FCA since 2011. Unfortunately the public have been led to believe that judges need more training and have deluded themselves into believing the problem can be fixed by a Royal Commission.
    You might as well ask the Magellan List judges to be on the panel of inquiry. First Question to ask why is this an international problem? The next question do you believe that the system is run and controlled by paedophiles? If you do the answer is simple. The Family court is the supply chain of fresh meat (children ) for the ever increasing desire of paedophiles, world wide. The ability to remove children from the home or school by Docs or any other child welfare organisation is the first stage of trafficking children for big money.

    The gagging law s121 is a brilliant designed document to control every aspect of of perceived freedom you could imagine. The designers were not protecting children but the judges ICLs psyches and anyone involved in the conduct of the FC. The fact that the FC is not bound by the Evidece Act, allows the Judge complete discretion on what he will hear or what evidence is submitted. The responsibility of the care of children is a State matter not a Commonweath matter. If the States did their duty they could keep matters regarding the welfare of chilren out if the Family Court, which has jurisdiction, expertise and training in sexual assault or domestic violence. Children who have a right to be heard are gagged from giving evidence of their own experience.

    In Short the ” system ” is designed to ensure you will not get a fair hearing. The collusion between State Authorities and th FC is a fusion of senior like minded high ranking paedophiles in the States and have come to a mutual understanding agreement to let the FC run the show and the States assist by blocking it providing false reports on their alleged investigation.
    As I say as least three times a week if you want change it wont be writing letters or hoping something will happen, Australia has been involved in many wars, the wars were not won by writing letters to the enemy to reconsider their conduct.

    YOU HAVE TO FIGHT FOR WHAT YOU BELIEVE IS RIGHT.

    • M you are absolutely correct as I discovered through my own FCWA experience with my daughter monique with the ex’s help supplied to an elite pedophile ring (and still is) and theres not a thing I can do about it and believe me Ive tried everything possible no expense spared until flat broke as they predicted being the protective parent if there was ever to be a RC into the FC’s and CPS’s of aust which I dont believe they will ever let happen at any cost because if the truth were to come out they will need to build more prisons in every state for the pedophiles and their enablers that had not already fled the country

  7. There is such a thing as a DONGLE, or at the worst a portable hard drive. There’s no reason on this earth, why any files you wish to obtain cannot be directly down loaded onto such a device costing NOTHING but a few seconds of low voltage electricity. Thus you can then peruse the documents at your conveneince on your own PC and only print out relevant pages, thus avoiding prohibitive costs. Clearly our archaic legal system has not yet caught up with technological advances.

    • Eddy; I suspect they intentionally keep our archaic legal system archaic because they make more money out of it that way

    • What interests me is that the Administrative Appeals Tribunal is a branch of the Fed J system and anyone can advocate for anyone so engaged:
      ADMINISTRATIVE APPEALS TRIBUNAL ACT 1975 – SECT 27 Persons who may apply to Tribunal
      (1)  Where this Act or any other enactment (other than the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation Act 1979 ) provides that an application may be made to the Tribunal for a review of a decision, THE APPLICATION MAY BE MADE ON OR ON BEHALF OF ANY PERSON OR PERSONS (including the Commonwealth or an authority of the Commonwealth or Norfolk Island or an authority of Norfolk Island) whose interests are affected by the decision.

      Furthermore reviews of Centrelink decisions are routinely dealt with entirely “on the papers” or via audio link from the comfort of one’s own abode at no fee whatsoever and there’s no prohibition on recording the latter ones-self:
      ADMINISTRATIVE APPEALS TRIBUNAL ACT 1975 – SECT 34J Circumstances in which hearing may be dispensed with
      If: (a)  it appears to the Tribunal that the issues for determination on the review of a decision can be adequately determined in the absence of the parties; and (b)  the parties consent to the review being determined without a hearing; the Tribunal may review the decision by considering the documents or other material lodged with or provided to the Tribunal and without holding a hearing.

      Having acted as an advocate twice I can vouchsafe that the balance of the package is no less reprobate than that being dished out in any other Court, but at least you don’t have to choose between paying for the privilege and self-representation( a known disadvantage and I’m not just talking about the magic-circle problem)

    • Diane, I suppose not everyone was ill-intentioned.

      I even think the same is true today tho it is certainly baffling.

      I mean why would the (nasty) teachers have given up their chance to live a happy life?

  10. Ah a happy life??
    If we don’t know the truth -the reality of the history of the place where we live–how can we know the truth about ourselves and the constructed world we live in.
    Not an aboriginal non-aboriginal issue– rather everyone facing their reality

    Keith Windshuttle comes to mind his whitewash of history needs to be corrected–and his history, authority and connections researched.

    “Mr Barron says the centenary, and the new research, should be used to ensure people never forget what happened at Moore River.

    “Let Australia know about it,” he says.

    “I’d like non-Aboriginal [people] to know as well, so people can come together and understand what those poor souls went through.”

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