Family Law and Feminism
Tuesday, April 5, 2011 at 10:30AM 
With special guests:
- Wayne Butler and
- Suzanne Venker.
Hot on the heels of the Pink Bats fiasco, the Gillard Government in Australia, is now rushing headlong into another policy debacle, that of the proposed Family Law Amendments [Family Violence] Bill 2010, which will cause many thousands of Australian men, women and children, to lose contact with their families. It will also result in an increased associated loss of life, as a growing number of desperate parents and children see no alternative, but to put an end to the extreme emotional pain they are experiencing as a result of appalling legislation, forced upon them against their will.
Under the guise of needing to protect children from ‘alleged’ abuse while on contact visits with their non-custodial parents, the proposed [Family Violence] amendments will provide a perfect platform, from which toxic custodial parents will be able to launch their perjurious, child-kidnapping raids, safe in the knowledge that they will be able to do so successfully with absolute impunity.
In a further act of Political arrogance, the Attorney General, the Hon Robert McClelland MP, has refused to publish any of the publicly invited submissions from organisations and affected members of the public. There is widespread community dismay at this contemptuous, secretive behaviour, which many believe to be because publication of the submissions would expose the glaring flaws in the proposed amendments.
Once again we witness an example of a bungling Government, happy to engage in a deliberate attempt to keep the electorate in the dark for Political expediency. It has been suggested that perhaps this is the Gillard example of what’s ‘In the Best Interest of Children’?
Our first guest this week is Wayne Butler, Executive Secretary, Shared Parenting Council of Australia (SPCA), who will speak in detail about the issues involved with the proposed Family Law Amendments [Family Violence] Bill 2010, and discuss the contents of the combined media release of a number of like minded, concerned parenting organisations.
Wayne was a foundation member of the Shared Parenting Council of Australia which was formed by Geoffrey Greene in 2002, and was appointed as the Executive Secretary role in 2003 and has retained the post since.
Wayne has been involved in preparing extensive submissions and representations to Government since 2000 in relation to Family Law and Child Support Legislation changes. In particular the HORISP report, Child Support Taskforce and submissions / attendances to various Senate committees, review work on the SRL project in the Family Court and other legislative reform submissions including works on relocation cases, and Change of Circumstance submission.
Our second guest is American Author and Freelance Writer Suzanne Venker, who will discuss her insightful new book ‘The FLIPSIDE of FEMINISM: What Conservative Women Know — and Men Can’t Say’
Suzanne’s writing tends toward the provocative — as evidenced by her first book, 7 Myths of Working Mothers, which argues that young children and demanding careers are incompatible. Her book is a Main Selection of Bookspan’s American Compass Book Club and is listed on Jeff Rubin’s Guide to Best Conservative Books.
Suzanne has appeared on ABC, CNN, FOX, C-Span, PAX, EWTN — as well as hundreds of radio shows throughout the country. Suzanne’s work has also appeared in Human Events, National Review, World Net Daily, and the New York Post.
“Since the 1960s, American feminists have set themselves up as the arbiters of all things female. Their policies have dominated the social and political landscape. The “spin sisters” in the media (aptly named by Myrna Blyth in her book of the same name) and their cohorts in academia are committed feminists. Consequently, everything Americans know — or think they know — about marriage, kids, education, politics, gender roles, and work/family balance, has been filtered through a left-wing lens.
But what if conservative women are in the best position to empower American women? Forty years have passed since the so-called women’s movement claimed to liberate women from preconceived notions of what it means to be female – and the results are in. The latest statistics from the National Bureau of Economic Research show that “as women have gained more freedom, more education, and more power, they have become less happy.”
Enough, say Suzanne Venker and Phyllis Schlafly. It’s time to liberate America from feminism’s dead-end road. Cast off the ideology that preaches faux empowerment and liberation from men and marriage. While modern women enjoy unprecedented freedom and opportunities, Venker and Schlafly argue that this progress is not the result of feminism.
Women’s progress has been a natural evolution – due in large part to men’s contributions. American men are not a patriarchal bunch, as feminists claim. They have, in fact, aided women’s progress. And like women, they have been just as harmed by the feminist movement”.
Editor