The application concerned two children born in Australia on 22 January 1994 and 5 February 1995 to an Australian mother and a New Zealand father. The parents’ relationship began in Australia in 1992 and was characterised by periods of estrangement when the father returned to New Zealand.
From November 1996 the family lived together in New Zealand where the parents married in April 2000. In 2001 or 2002 the family returned to Australia where they lived continuously until 2005. Following marital difficulties, the mother moved out of the matrimonial home in Brisbane in March 2005.
The children remained in the care of the father. On 29 April, he sent them to New Zealand on one-way tickets to stay with relatives. The mother commenced proceedings for the return of the children to Australia in October 2005.