It's not often you see the most senior figures of Australia's legal establishment in the chambers of the federal Parliament. In fact, you only really see justices of the High Court in the Senate during the ceremonial opening of the Parliament after an election.

On Wednesday night however, after a day of our federal politicians tiptoeing around the ugly debacle that Barnaby Joyce has made of his personal life and political career, the President's Gallery in the Senate was accommodating not just High Court Chief Justice Susan Kiefel and Justice James Edelman but the acting Chief Justice of the Family Court, William Alstergren.