{"id":818069,"date":"2026-07-23T05:15:15","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T05:15:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/818069\/"},"modified":"2026-07-23T05:15:15","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T05:15:15","slug":"pauline-hanson-attacks-child-support-and-domestic-violence-leave","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/818069\/","title":{"rendered":"Pauline Hanson attacks child support and domestic violence leave"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Pauline Hanson labelled paid family and domestic violence leave a \u201choliday\u201d, described it as a \u201cscam\u201d that encouraged false claims and argued child support had become a \u201ccash cow\u201d in another broadside against Australia\u2019s family violence laws.<\/p>\n

The One Nation leader made the comments late last year on the Broken Fathers<\/a> podcast, hosted by Jared \u201cPurcy\u201d Purcell, during a discussion about fathers\u2019 rights, child custody and the family court system.<\/p>\n

The previously unreported remarks, which resurfaced after Hanson this week declared domestic violence was \u201ca two-way street\u201d<\/a>, included claims that protections had been \u201cabused\u201d, police spent too much time on family violence instead of \u201creal crime\u201d and that men were perennially disadvantaged by the family law system.<\/p>\n

Hanson, 72, has faced intense scrutiny in the past six weeks after her party\u2019s stunning rise in the polls this year and a controversial, wide-ranging policy speech at the National Press Club in June<\/a>. She has long campaigned for sweeping family law changes<\/a>, including abolishing the Family Court.<\/p>\n

In the podcast, she argued child support had encouraged custody disputes.<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe that you\u2019ve got to wind back a lot of issues to do with the family law court \u2026 Go after the child support. A lot of people see it as a cash cow,\u201d she said, questioning whether payments were always spent on children.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe One Nation leader speaks to Broken Fathers podcast host Jared Purcell.YouTube<\/p>\n

\u201cI reckon you actually rein in child support \u2026 that would sort of put a lot of people back in their box.\u201d<\/p>\n

She also criticised the policing of domestic violence, claiming officers were being diverted from more serious offending.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Pauline<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cDomestic violence takes up about 75 per cent of police officers\u2019 time now,\u201d Hanson said. \u201cThat\u2019s why we\u2019re not dealing with real crime out there. The whole thing needs to be wound back.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked by Purcell whether the family court favoured women, Hanson replied: \u201cOf course it is.\u201d<\/p>\n

She blamed feminist groups and governments for creating a system that \u201cis favouring women\u201d, arguing parliament had become dominated by \u201ctoo many woke people\u201d.<\/p>\n

Sex Discrimination Commissioner Dr Anna Cody and National Children\u2019s Commissioner Deb Tsorbaris rejected Hanson\u2019s \u201ctwo-way street\u201d comments on Thursday.<\/p>\n

Cody said any suggestion victim-survivors shared responsibility for abuse was \u201charmful, wrong and dangerous\u201d, adding that leaving a violent relationship was often one of the most dangerous times for women and children.<\/p>\n

Tsorbaris said children affected by family violence were too often overlooked and warned families seeking safety should be \u201csupported rather than judged\u201d. The commissioners said financial hardship could place pressure on families, but \u201cviolence is a choice \u2013 and blame rests entirely with the person who commits it\u201d.<\/p>\n

In the November podcast, Hanson suggested some domestic violence killings could be linked to the frustration of men over family breakdowns.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy is there murders in domestic violence? Is it because, you know, the sheer frustration that people are having? Is it through jealousy that they can\u2019t, you know, see their children?\u201d<\/p>\n

She argued restrictions on contact between parents and children should require evidence of physical abuse.<\/p>\n

Hanson, who found herself a single mother in her early 30s, has said she was a victim of domestic violence. Her campaign to reform the Family Court was in part influenced after her son, Adam, pleaded guilty in 2016 to breaching a domestic violence order<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Hanson also questioned the breadth of Australia\u2019s domestic violence laws, arguing behaviours such as sending text messages to ask about children or limiting household spending could be interpreted as abuse.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat people don\u2019t understand is \u2026 they think domestic violence is, you\u2019ve gone and bashed your wife,\u201d she said before listing examples, including husbands saying: \u201cYou can\u2019t buy shoes \u2026 we\u2019ve got to watch the money because we\u2019ve got to buy the groceries and pay the rent.\u201d<\/p>\n

She later argued similar controlling behaviour by women towards men \u2013 such as not allowing them to go to the pub or fishing \u2013 should also be considered domestic violence.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"People<\/a><\/p>\n

The podcast\u2019s host, a former Australian Border Force officer, last year received a nine-month good behaviour bond after pleading guilty to offences uncovered by a National Anti-Corruption Commission investigation.<\/p>\n

The One Nation leader also attacked paid family and domestic violence leave for victim-survivors.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe governments have made it easier for marriage breakups,\u201d she said, listing legal assistance, financial support payments and \u201cdomestic violence holiday leave\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m totally against it because this is an incentive to actually go out there and make false allegations until you prove to me that your allegations are true.\u201d<\/p>\n

She questioned government crisis payments for victim-survivors, asking: \u201cWho\u2019s to say it\u2019s not a scam?\u201d<\/p>\n

Hanson also claimed men were unfairly treated after relationship breakdowns, saying they were routinely forced from the family home while women received financial assistance to \u201cstart up a new life\u201d.<\/p>\n

She argued assets accumulated before marriage, including superannuation, should generally remain with the original owner after separation. She also claimed false allegations were widespread and called for stronger perjury laws.<\/p>\n

Asked by Purcell whether she thought domestic violence laws were being used as a legal weapon, she replied: \u201cYes, I do. Most definitely it is. And that\u2019s why the false allegations. We\u2019ve allowed it to go on and fester.\u201d<\/p>\n

She also argued domestic violence orders could unfairly cost people their jobs, claiming workers in occupations requiring security clearances or licences could lose their employment as a result.<\/p>\n

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\"RobRob Harris<\/a> is the national correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age based in Canberra. He is a former Europe correspondent.Connect via email<\/a>.\"BrittanyBrittany Busch<\/a> is a federal politics reporter for The Age and Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":818070,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,44],"class_list":["post-818069","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/818069","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=818069"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/818069\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/818070"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=818069"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=818069"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=818069"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}