‘No booze and Botox’: Pauline Hanson’s radical child support plan

Hundreds of Australians have reacted to Senator Pauline Hanson’s ‘no booze and Botox’ child support plan, with many backing changes to the scheme.

Divorced parents have demanded a shake-up to Child Support, after One Nation leader Pauline Hanson criticised payments wasted on “beer and Botox’’.

Senator Hanson said child maintenance payments should be quarantined in a bank account or welfare card that can only be used to pay for children’s expenses such as food, education and health care.

She said parents with equal custody should pay their own costs of raising the children.

Hundreds of readers have reacted to Senator Hanson’s demands, with many calling for sweeping reforms to the Child Support scheme.

Reader Sue said payments should be based on each parent’s income after tax.

“Too many people are left financially crippled with Child Support payments based on gross income and no consideration given that the person has ongoing living expenses like rent or mortgage, gas, water, electricity and food,’’ she said.

Child Support payments would be quarantined to stop parents blowing money on “booze and Botox”, under sweeping reforms demanded by Senator Pauline Hanson. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Peter Lorimer.

Reader Tim said he was paying up to $2000 a month in child support “and still got labelled a deadbeat dad’’.

“The ex was always immaculate with hair and out partying, my kids had shoes with holes in them,’’ he said.

Another reader said that “men are very good at claiming to be broke while earning a fortune cash in hand’’.

“The only single parents I know are all women, all abandoned by their husbands, children abandoned by their fathers, and they never see a brass razoo in child support,’’ they wrote.

Reader Derek said he had “four dead mates from suicide’’.

“All were hard workers, family men, devoted to their kids,’’ he wrote.

“Their marriage breakdown and separation brought on the heavy tactics of lawyers getting everything they had, losing three quarters of their weekly wage in child support, dental for kids, school fees, sports, mortgage payments etc.’’

Senator Hanson is deputy chair of a parliamentary inquiry into family law, which has received thousands of submissions from the public.

She also wants pre-nuptial agreements built into the Family Law Act to stop “gold-digging’’ spouses claiming assets accumulated before marriage.

Senator Hanson said parents with equal custody should pay their own costs for raising the children.

“If you have 50-50 custody, no one should pay child support,’’ she said.

Senator Hanson said child maintenance payments should be quarantined in a bank account or welfare card that can only be used to pay for children’s expenses such as food, education and health care.

“That way you know where the money is going, and it’s not going to go on cartons of beer or Botox or holidays and new cars,’’ she said.

Ms Hanson said if custody of a child was 50-50, no child support should be paid. Picture: iStock

Separated parents paid each other $3.7 billion in child support last financial year.

More than 15,000 parents sought a review of payments, based on the other parent’s income, property, financial resources or earning capacity.

But the federal government’s Child Support Agency (CSA) rejected more than half the applications.

A quarter of parents paying child support owe money to the other parent, with the CSA garnisheeing the wages of 73,663 parents and deducting debts from the tax refunds of 124,123 parents.

Senator Hanson said child support payments should be based on each parent’s base income, after tax, instead of their gross taxable income.

“Overtime and a second job should not come into the equation,’’ she said.

“Child support that comes out of gross income is making some people penniless – they can’t afford to pay their bills.

“Then you have the other scale of parents who won’t put anything towards helping their kids.’’

Senator Hanson – a long-time critic of the Family Court – said custody disputes were being fuelled by a child support system that bases payments on the number of nights children spend with each parent.

“It’s driven a lot of men and women to suicide,’’ she said.

“Take money out of the equation and you will have a lot of parents who won’t fight over who has the children.

“Those people who’ve thrown in their jobs just to avoid paying child support will have to go back to work.’’

Senator Hanson said child support payments should be based on each parent’s base income, after tax, instead of their gross taxable income. Picture: Tim Hunter

Senator Hanson has met federal Attorney-General Michaelia Cash to demand that child support payments be quarantined into an account or “cashless welfare card” so it can only be spent on the children.

The One Nation leader is also demanding changes to the Family Law Act so that divorcing couples can automatically keep any assets they owned before marriage.

“The superannuation and assets you had prior to the relationship should be yours, and anything you build together should be split,’’ she said.

“Too many people are out for an easy ride at someone else’s expense.’’

Senator Cash said the federal government had increased funding to family law courts to address court delays, and would respond to the parliamentary inquiry’s recommendation after it tables its final report, due in October.

Social Services Minister Anne Ruston said family breakdowns were “incredibly difficult’’.

“Child support is in place to ensure that as far as possible children affected by a family breakdown remain financially secure,’’ she said.

“In situations where paying parents have limited or no care of their children, Services Australia can directly pay certain costs including school uniforms, child care costs and fees for essential medical and dental services for the child as an alternative to the full payment being provided to the other parent.’’

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