Madam Deputy Speaker, the ACDP will support this Bill. In particular we support the "clean break" principle, which allows the nonmember spouse to claim and receive a portion of the member's interest that is assigned in terms of the divorce order. Clearly, however, we share the concerns about divorces of convenience because that could impact vulnerable women at a later stage. We are also concerned about the issue of taxation, particularly for vulnerable women, and those aspects need to be clarified in later legislation.
We believe, however, that with the "clean break" principle, the benefits outweigh the detriments, particularly when it comes to vulnerable women who stay at home to raise children and will now, upon divorce, be able to obtain their share without delay.
The second aspect related to the proposed amendment of the revision of the nonstatutory forces, which entails the pensionable service of former members of those forces, is that that will now be recognised. We fully appreciate and support that, but we do believe the costing needs to be closely looked at for the cost implications. However, the ACDP will support this Bill.