International Men’s Day on different continents

With special guests:

• Glen Poole
• Cathleen Williams
• David Hatfield 

International Men’s Day (IMD) 2011 will be celebrated in over 50 countries around the world on 19 November and the 2011 theme is:

Giving Boys the Best Possible Start in Life

This week we drop in on the IMD coordinators in the UK, the USA and Canada to hear directly from the organisers some of their achievements since being appointed and what they have planned for 2011. The speakers are all entertaining and inspiring as we go across the world to hear from them. IMD is fast approaching as we devote the second of three shows to this important event.

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What International Men’s Day Means to Me

With special guests:

• Mick Kenny
• John D Evans  

International Men’s Day (IMD) 2011 will be celebrated in over 50 countries around the world on 19 November and the 2011 theme is:

Giving Boys the Best Possible Start in Life

IMD interfaces with MOVEMBER and also with Universal Children’s Day on November 20 and in focussing on the main challenges boys all over the world face, asks how we can come up with local solutions to global problems.

At Dads on the Air this week we explore what IMD means to organisers in Ireland and the USA. Listeners are invited to share their own thoughts on giving the best start to boys by contacting the IMD coordination team at http://www.international-mens-day.com/ The best solution oriented approach will be awarded a prize certificate for the IMD FLAGSHIP PROJECT.

Across the sea to Ireland

Our first guest today is Mick Kenny, the Chair of Men in Childcare Ireland coordinating a celebration of IMD in Ireland. Mick has been working in childcare for 19 years, for the last 15 years in the early years sector (preschool / kindergarten) and he speaks to us from Kilkenny.

Mick is fortunate to be working in an area he loves. He is working towards his vision of seeing children feel it is normal to be cared for by both men and women.

Hear what the community gains from accessing men for this career and also the benefits to the male childcare workers themselves.

Mick’s efforts to increase the contribution of men in raising boys fits neatly with the IMD theme in 2011 and it is told with a lilting Irish accent.

The IMD Poet in the USA

Today we are honored to welcome back to Dads on the Air John D Evans who is the Illinois Regional Coordinator for IMD in the USA. John is an educator, humanitarian, folklorist, author and poet whose literary work Diary of a Renaissance Man was named Children’s Choice 2008 by the International Readers’ Association, the Children’s Book Council and 10,000 school children.

In talking to John we find out how IMD will be celebrated in the Illinois area of the USA in 2011 as well as hearing something of what was achieved in 2010. We hear about a writing competition that is open to writers around the world.

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MOVEMBER coming

With special guests:

• Jason Hincks
• David Gregory

 

With MOVEMBER (the month formerly known as November) only a week away we speak to Jason Hincks who is the Chief Operating Officer of MOVEMBER. This is the movement that started in Melbourne in 2003 and which now has campaigns in ten countries around the world including South Africa, the UK and the USA.

MOVEMBER encourages men to grow moustaches for the 30 days of the month and raise money for serious men’s health issues, specifically prostate cancer and male depression. We discuss why prostate cancer and depression were the chosen areas to support and how the funds raised by MOVEMBER are being directed.

Since 2003 Mo Bros and supporting Mo Sistas have raised over $AUS178 million. Listen in to find out what is in store this year and how you can join the movement.

Our second guest is David Gregory who was diagnosed with prostate cancer in late 1999 and was operated on three months later. David speaks openly about his personal experience and with that first hand knowledge discusses the reasons men often give for not being tested. At a time when close to 3,300 men die annually of prostate cancer, equal to the number of women who die from breast cancer, this is a most important topic. Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in Australian men. David tells us how the information available has improved since his own diagnosis and shares his passion in bringing this information to men over 40. This is mostly done through Prostate Cancer Support Groups affiliated with the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia. Listen in and find out what you and your partner should be asking your doctor.

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BLACK DOG DAZE and R U OK?

Black_Dog_DazeWith special guests:

• Andrew Robb AO MP
• Rebecca Lewis

 

We welcomed Andrew Robb on to the show for the first time today. Andrew has distinguished himself in leadership positions for many years resulting in his high public profile. These positions have ranged from being the head of the National Farmers’ Federation (“the NFF”), the Director of the Federal Election campaign for the Liberal Party in 1993 and 1996, being a consultant to Kerry Packer and since 2004 being the Member for the Federal Seat of Goldstein. Andrew is currently on the shadow front bench as the Shadow Minister for Finance and Debt Reduction as well as Chairman of the Coalition Policy Development Committee.

What the public did not know until recent times is that Andrew Robb has for over 40 years been battling a debilitating condition, a condition that he could not admit even to himself. In 2009 Andrew with typical courage and determination decided to go public with his condition and take immediate leave from his senior position in the Parliament so that he could devote his full attention to dealing with his condition which now had a name, diurnal variation.

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The Journey

 With special guests:

• Ken Thompson and
• Heath Cole.  

 
 

Both our guests today have been on a bicycle journey.

Ken Thompson became well known when he decided to take direct action after his child was abducted overseas by the other parent. After riding on his bicycle around Europe publicising his quest to find his child Ken was contacted by Interpol with news that his child had been located. Ken is now part of an international movement to help parents who have been the victim of this destructive behaviour and to agitate for changes in the law to make this type of child abduction a crime in all countries, including Australia. Ken presents a lucid explanation of the problem of international parental child alienation, what is being done about it and what we all hope is the way forward.

Our second guest is Heath Cole. Last Friday Heath completed with his team of four other riders a 1000 kilometre ride in the Riverina to raise funds and awareness of mental health. Heath received a warm welcome in the towns of Tumbarumba, Tumut, Cootamundra, Temora and Griffith and finishing the course where he started in Wagga Wagga. Heath spoke candidly about his own battles with the “Black Dog” and how the bike ride has helped in raising his own spirits as well as raising funds for Riverina Bluebell, the local charity dealing with mental health issues. Heath talks about the warning signs of depression and what you should do about it. This is very to pical in view of World Mental Health Day on Monday 10 October 2011 and the ongoing Mental Health Month in NSW.

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Events Of The Week

Discussion of the week’s events:

With most of the team away during the school holidays, we were still able to muster a couple of stalwarts who engaged in a lively and informative discussion on the weeks events. There are many issues affecting parents and children today, that in the past were not a matter of concern or not even on the radar. However with modern technology and modern medicines, our lives have been changed considerably over the years, some things for the better while others for the worse.

How our society deals with some of these issues are the topic of discussion on today’s show, and well worth a listen if you are a modern day parent.

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What Makes Us Tick?

With special guests:

• John Flanagan and
• Hugh Mackay.

The author of an interesting new book, ‘What Makes Us Tick?’ is Hugh Mackay, who is widely regarded as Australia’s preeminent social researcher and he joins us today to discuss his latest book. Hugh Mackay has spent most of his working life exploring why we do the things we do, ranging from the television programs we watch or the politicians we vote for, to the decisions that shape our lives - who (or whether) to marry, where to live, whether to have children, what job to do.

Written as part reflection, part psychological analysis, ‘What Makes Us Tick?’ is a highly personal account of the things Mackay has learned from the experience of listening to people talk about their dreams, their fears, their faith, their hopes, their disappointments, their frustrations and their fantasies. It makes for a most interesting interview and is definitely a must listen.  

We open the show with a long overdue interview with well informed John Flanagan, who is the Deputy Registered Officer of the Non-Custodial Parents Party (Equal Parenting). John speaks with passion about the proposed new Family Law amendments and claims that if passed by Parliament in its present form, the Family Law Legislation Amendment (Family Violence and Other Measures) Bill 2011 will significantly reduce contact by children with both parents after divorce/separation.  

John makes the point that at first glance, there appear to be many more submissions supporting the Bill (in a ratio of approximately 2:1), but has observed that when studied more closely, many of the submissions supporting the Bill would appear to have been actually written by the same author.

He suggests this is particularly the case with regard to the many submissions commencing with the words “I am writing to express my support”. If this should be correct, surely some questions need to be asked such as, 1. is there a process of verifying the authenticity of submissions?,  2. what that proccess might be?, and 3. how does the  AG propose to answer these claims of subversion of the political process?.

Editor

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Dads and Children

With special guests:

• Ken Thompson and

• David Vernon. 

Our first guest today is a Dad who has personal experience of what has become a type of epidemic in our community, namely the international abduction of children by a parent (IPCA). Ken Thompson was able to find his son Andrew and return to Australia after a three year search.

For many parents, particularly when the abducting parent goes to a non-Hague convention country there is unlikely to be any reunion.

It is estimated that at least 300 Australian children are abducted in this way every year which is an enormous toll on the community, the parents and the abducted children.

Ken brings us up to date with what is happening to help combat this practice which although being a criminal offence in the US and the UK does not appear in the Australian criminal law.

Ken gives some practical advice on what vulnerable parents should do to protect their children and also focuses attention on the upcoming Senate Inquiry.

Our second guest is David Vernon a Canberra based author who is the editor of Men at Birth. A second edition of this book was released in May 2011 and David came onto DADS ON THE AIR to discuss what he found after hearing about the birthing experiences of 23 men.

Compared to earlier generations, David Vernon believes men’s attitudes have changed:

More than ever before:

  * Many men now want to be part of that moment when the baby is born – to be with their partner, sharing the creation of their new family.

  * More men are attending ante-natal classes with their partner. They plan to attend the birth and are motivated to know what to expect.    

* Men are usually surprised by the reality of birth – and how tough and intense it can be for their partner.    

* Men realise that they do have a real role in  supporting their partner – and that she is often relying on them for them to help if there is a crisis or tough decisions need to be made.    

* Men are keen to know more about birth — not just the mechanics but how they can do ‘their bit’ to bring a new life into the world.

 David tells us

‘It is my hope that men who read Men at Birth, by becoming familiar with birth, will be able to let go of any excessive anxiety they may have about their upcoming experience. By becoming familiar with birth they will be better prepared.’

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Psychiatry and One Man's Story

With special guests:

• Prof. Miles Groth and
• ‘Tom’.

Our first guest this week is American Professor Miles Groth, who is full professor in the Department of Psychology at Wagner College, Staten Island, New York. He trained as a psychoanalyst in New York, where he has lectured residents in psychiatry on integrating existential analysis with traditional inpatient treatment. He has been in private practice since 1977.

Dr. Groth studied at Franklin and Marshall College and Duquesne University, and completed his PhD at Fordham University. He is the author of three books, and co-editor of Engaging College Men: Discovering What Works and Why, chapters in five books, twenty-six articles and fifty book reviews in nineteen different peer-reviewed journals. He is past editor of the International Journal of Men’s Health co-founding editor with Diederik Janssen of Thymos: Journal of Boyhood Studies.

Professor Groth will be in Australia soon to present at the Australian Institute of Male Health and Studies’ first Male Studies Symposium in Adelaide in June, at the Adelaide Convention Centre, where his topic will be ‘The Boy is Father to the Man’. As part of his presentation, he will speak about the state of the nuclear family, in particular the missing father and the effects of this on boys’ lives.

We then speak with “Tom” (not his real name for legal reasons), who tells his own story of how he was dispossessed of his children, by a legal system that he once foolishly believed to be fair and just, as it adjudicated the sensitive issues surrounding parental separation.

He made the mistake of trusting a system which has built a huge industry out of personal misery, and appears to have as its main objective the need to create the greatest amount of conflict possible, in order to fleece the greatest amount of the family wealth from warring parents.

Not taking it laying down however, “Tom” has embarked on a personal mission to warn an unsuspecting community, of the destructive practices employed by the divorce industry, and tells of the tactics he is using to expose such practices. Well worth listening to, especially for all those who are at a point where perhaps they feel there is nowhere else to go, and that there is nothing they can personally do.

Editor

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Hypocrisy Of Our Political Leadership

With interesting comment by:

• Ian Purdie and
• Ray Lenton.

When the ‘Social Inclusion’ Minister Tanya Plibersek MP spoke in Parliament last week of her disappointment at the “meowing attack” on her colleague, she followed with “As the Minister for Social Inclusion, I don’t think it’s right that half our population should feel excluded by this type of language.” All of which on the face of it sounds perfectly reasonable.

The hypocrisy of her comment however, defies logic in the face of her enthusiastic support for the sexist language of the blatantly gender divisive and bigoted, annual ‘White Ribbon’ campaign. This multi-million dollar taxpayer funded campaign, of  ‘Social Exclusion’, which excludes half our population and serves to stigmatize them all as violent abusers and sexual predators, is vigorously promoted by this Minister without the slightest concern or empathy for the underlying damage it inflicts on the nation’s decent fathers, sons, brothers, male partners and families.   

Without doubt, the vast majority of Australians are concerned at the level of all violence and abuse in our communities and certainly do not condone the behaviour of the perpetrators.They also fully support the obvious need to protect all of the victims.

It is therefore not surprising, that so many people vigorously object to the spectacle of hateful, openly sexist, Government sponsored, scare campaigns, which appear to be ideology driven and seem specifically designed to drive a gender divisive wedge into the debate. Most thinking Australians consider such campaigns to incite hate, social division and exclusion, rather then promote social inclusion and harmony. 

The Violence and Abuse victim community and their supporters, comprising all men, women and children, now looks forward to an apology from the ‘Social Inclusion’ Minister, for her sexist language and behaviour in relation to that campaign, and hopes such gender discriminating campaigns in future take account of all the available evidence, and presents any and all such evidence in gender neutral terms.

Furthermore it is hoped that in future, misleading and selective cherry-picked advocacy research, provided by cherry-picked advocacy researchers in support of such campaigns, is better scrutinized by our elected representatives for accuracy, quality and soundness, in order to better protect the community from the subsequent damaging outcomes of bad policies.    

The question must be asked what the underlying motives of this Government are, when such gender or race hate campaigns are allowed to establish such a foothold and flourish in a modern society, which claims to pride itself on being socially inclusive, multi cultural and anti-racist. Surely only a balanced and truthful approach can provide for a sound and reasoned outcome and lead to better policy development.    

Of particular concern is what the confusing, double standard message of such covert hate campaign, may be sending to the nation’s young boys. On the one hand for some it could become a self fulfilling prophesy, for others it will undoubtedly create deeply felt feelings of unworthiness and lead to depressive illnesses.   

Is it fair to expect our young boys to treat everyone equally, while at the same time ask them to silently accept all their fathers, brothers and themselves, being unfairly labeled as violent thugs by the opposite gender?

Does our society really wish to continue down this bigoted path, or are we intelligent enough to see the hypocrisy of such direction and demand social justice and equality for all, irrespective of race, ethnicity or gender? To teach no respect is to receive none!

Editor

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Australian MP Slams 'Trojan Horse' Family Law Amendments

With special guest:

• Greg Andresen.

The proposed Australian Family Law amendments came under attack from one of Australia’s more enlightened Federal Parliamentarians, George Christensen MP, this week, who likened them to taking the George Orwell approach to ranking considerations in his classic novel ‘Animal Farm’. Mr Christensen slammed the proposed amendments as being like a ‘Trojan Horse’ loaded full of terrible consequences that will undermine some of the most basic human rights of parents and children.  

On this week’s program we take another look at the proposed Amendments and speak with Greg Andresen, spokesperson for Men’s Health Australia, who has exposed many of the domestic violence myths being promoted by the Gillard Government and draws attention to some of the misleading claims made recently under Parliamentary privilege, by the Federal Minister for the Status of Women, the Hon Kate Ellis MP.

This is particularly troubling as it is impossible to develop fair and just legislation based on flawed information provided by self-interest groups, whose main focus in life is to protect their government funded existence, while the evidence provided by victim groups has been discounted, ridiculed and ignored.  

While Men’s Health Australia and the Minister both agree that child abuse and Family Violence are real, Men’s Health rightly question the alleged need to throw away due process in order to protect children from abuse and violence. They correctly point out that it is impossible to protect people from both abuse and false allegations of abuse at the same time as is proposed in the amendments, especially since each of them are considered abuse and cause immeasurable harm to the lives of the victims.   

George Christensen maintains that “what is inside this Trojan horse, the malicious code that will infect society, is an attempt to undermine equal access for both parents. This change would invite the court to ignore the requirement to consider the second pillar—the benefit to the child of having a meaningful relationship with both parents”.  

In his address to Parliament, George expressed his concern about the proposed broadening of the definition of family violence and made a passionate plea for sanity to prevail.  “The broadened definition of ‘family violence’ would mean that a wide range of everyday activities could potentially be construed as violence.

The broader definition includes as violence such things as repeated derogatory taunts. Under the proposed definition, much of what happens right here in the parliament would be construed as violence. Also included as violence is this little nugget: ‘preventing the family member from making or keeping connections with his or her family, friends, or culture.’ Under this broad definition, a parent could not prevent a young teenager from spending 20 hours a day talking to friends on Facebook, for fear of being accused of family violence”.

“What happens when a parent acts in a way that a reasonable person would describe as good parenting? What happens when a father says to his 13-year-old daughter, ‘No, you can’t go to Julia’s party because there will be alcohol and no adult supervision’? I will tell you what happens. An upset teenage daughter talks to a vindictive mother, who then claims the daughter is a victim of family violence—and it is their right under this definition. Another child loses the right to have a meaningful relationship with her parent. Under this definition, a parent would be too scared to ground a child as punishment for bad behaviour, for fear of ‘depriving a family member of his or her liberty.’  

Speaking in one voice with hundreds of thousands of powerless, dispossessed Australian parents and children, he concludes his Parliamentary address with:

“These amendments should be seen for what they are. They are a Trojan horse, full of malicious code designed to deprive fathers of their rights. The best thing we can do to protect the safety of children and to prevent family violence is to leave this act as it is.”    

While the rest of his Parliamentary colleagues prance about like frustrated show ponies, desperately chasing media attention to feed their inflated egos, George Christensen is scrupulously researching the subject matter of his Parliamentary responsibilities.             

Fortunately and belatedly, the Australian public has finally discovered a quite achiever to represent them, who is ethical and has the intelligence, ability and courage to challenge some of the many injustices, that an uncaring, self-centred establishment has caused to be imposed on an unsuspecting electorate over many decades.

We look forward to seeing and hearing a lot more in the years to come, from George Christensen, a principled man.  

Editor

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Do Politicians Really Care About Ordinary Australians?

With special guests:

• Sue Price
• Paul Mischefski and
• Tony Smith.

The Doomsday Cult appears to have moved their headquarters to the environs of the Australian Federal Parliament building in Canberra, where scaremongering  and the spreading of apocalyptic predictions of meter high sea level rises and pending invasions by hordes of uninvited boat arrivals, preoccupy the national debate.

We live in a chaotic environment, that sees our Political leaders fall over themselves to see who can deliver the most outrageous daily prophecy of pending catastrophic disasters, in order to feed the frenzy of the 24 hour media news cycle.

As we watch this childish, unstatesmen like display by our Political leadership, ordinary Australians shake their head and go about dealing with the everyday concerns that affect their personal daily lives.  

As the picture illustrates, from the Prime Minister Julia Gillard down, contempt by our elected Parliamentary leadership for the real every day concerns of the Australian public is obvious, and nowhere is this more evident than in the area of Family Law.

The Nation’s, nowhere to be seen Attorney General and his equally invisible opposition counterpart, simply refuse to debate some of the most outrageous proposals ever tabled in our National Parliament by an Australian Attorney General.  This is in the form of the proposed Family Law Amendment [Family Violence] Bill - 2010,  and on today’s show we discuss a number of the contentious issues which have raised so much concern amongst the non-custodial parent groups.  

Our first guest is Sue Price of the Men’s Rights Agency, who co-hosts today’s show from her headquarters in Brisbane. Joining her from Brisbane, is well known journalist, researcher and magazine editor Paul Mischefski,  who is also executive member of Men’s Wellbeing Inc, Queensland. Our final guest is Tony Smith, a senior Queensland  lawyer, who represented the people of Queensland as a Federal Politician, when he was elected to the House of Representatives in 1996.   

With a shared wealth of knowledge about the ravages that Family Law outcomes have inflicted on unsuspecting litigants, today’s guests speak out against what some have described as “another dogs breakfast of new Family Law Amendments”.

Of greatest concern is the apathy and disinterest shown by so many of our elected representatives, when they deal with such important, sensitive human rights issues as are involved in Family Law matters. Particularly in the way they repeatedly allow themselves to be so easily manipulated by various unsubstantiated claims, made by a plethora of  self interest groups, who rely on the indifference or lack of intellectual ability of many of our Parliamentarians, to challenge the accuracy of the information provided.

It is therefore not surprising to see such a rash of poorly drafted legislation being presented to Parliament, especially when so many of our elected representatives appear to lack the knowledge, experience and commonsense to understand much of the underlying meaning and possible ramifications of what is really being proposed. For responsible parents, its a very good time to be vigilant!

Editor

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The State - The Public - The Media

With special guest:

• “Rick”

While we silently agree to live in an ignorant, apathetic, environment, passively accepting the constant  flow of mis-information dished out by an army of spin doctors, we are not unlike the 3 monkeys. As we refuse to speak out, fail to question, and continue to ignore the facts, we allow ourselves to be used and dictated to, by an establishment which is slowly strangling our Family relationships, our personal independence, and our individual creativity. Many of our human rights have been devalued or taken away, in order for the State to maintain control over our human instincts to love and protect those dear to us.  

Democracy and independence is what our fathers fought for, with many paying the ultimate sacrifice. To see our nation slowly slipping into a ruthless form of dictatorship, is against everything our ancestors stood and died for. Today a parent can be jailed for sending a birthday card to his stolen child, while another desperate parent is forced to climb the Sydney Harbour bridge, in order to draw attention to the fact he hasn’t been allowed to see his stolen children for 70 days.

This is all made possible by the lack of effective Family Law legislation, which would and should, give better protection to separating parents and their children. Instead, an apathetic community silently accepts the false notion, that in our Family Courts, the nation’s children are protected from harm by a just and fair system that prides itself on a foundation of truth, equality and fairness.

The reality however, sees a dogs breakfast of legal mumbo jumbo, created by a hodgepodge of vested interests. The original legislators who drafted such draconian legislation, came from a very different era in time than we live in today, a time when human values were somewhat different.   

It was also a time when little was known about brainwashing techniques and how the human mind reacts when another person or group has taken /or been given, total control over every aspect of a persons being. The Stockholm Syndrome, Parental Alienation, Dr. Zimbardo’s Stanford Prison Experiment and the Milgram Obedience Experiment were all still in the learning and discovery stages.   

Yet here we are, just like the three blind, deaf and dumb monkeys, living in a society that prides itself on being better informed, but accepting at face value everything the media and politicians throw at us. No questions asked, no challenges as to the accuracy of the information, and many obstacles put in our way to prevent us from discovering the truth and accuracy of any such information.  

This is the environment in which today’s parents are desperately trying to maintain some level of meaningful contact with their children, often at great personal cost and enormous level of stress. Unfortunately, since legal parenting rights have long ago been taken away by the State, engaging in the Family Court system on the premise of some sort of perceived parenting rights, is an exercise in futility. Of particular importance therefore, is to remember the fact that No rights in effect means No justice!  

Our guest today is one such parent, who has tried everything to remain in contact with his children, but all to no avail. We call him  “Rick”, not his real name for legal reasons, and he joins us to speak about his recent six month in jail for trying to communicate with his estranged daughter. We are not to reveal the identity of this father, supposedly in order to protect the identity of his children, but as everyone knows, in reality it conveniently protects the identities of all those involved with the forcible stealing of his children from his love, care and protection. Welcome to the Monkey Cage! 

Editor

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Dispossessed Australian Mothers Speak Out

With special guests:

• ‘Diana’
• ‘Hayley’ and
• ‘Marissa’

In an amazing show of solidarity, dispossessed mothers are joining the ranks of dispossessed fathers in calling for genuine reform of Family Law, instead of the smoke and mirror reforms regularly dished up by successive governments. Like the many fathers, these mothers are concerned for the welfare of their children, and slam the next round of proposed Family Law Amendments by the Australian ‘Gillard’ Government, as another exercise in futility.

Joining us on this special program of gender solidarity, are three courageous dispossessed mothers, ‘Diana’, ‘Hayley’ and ‘Marissa’, (not their real names for legal reasons) who share a little of their personal stories, and offer their views on the proposed ‘Gillard’ government’s Family Law Amendments.   

They are appalled at the way the system has allowed their ex-partners to remove the children from the love, care and protection of their mothers, and how it then protects itself from public scrutiny, by not allowing them to reveal their true identity when telling us their story.

These mothers are determined to expose the damaging gender divide, which has been artificially created, in order to cause the maximum level of conflict between parents, for maximum economic benefit of the divorce industry. The outcome of this intrusive industry interference, which shelters under the ‘Best Interest of the Children’ umbrella, is the on-going unnecessary destruction of countless loving parent/child relationships.  

The increasing number of distressed mothers who are falling victim to the ravages of these deeply flawed Laws, hold grave concerns that the proposed new amendments, which astonishingly include the abolition of penalties for perjury, will see a growing number of fathers take advantage of the many  unbelievable weaknesses in the legislation.   

Many mothers now share the incredible grief and pain the current Family Laws inflict on separating families, and are horrified at the way an unsuspecting community has allowed itself to be manipulated into believing these gender divisive outcomes, are the result of naturally occurring battles between Men and Women. They are determined to help close this perceived gender divide, by drawing public attention to the fact that this whole gender divisive myth around Family Law, has been artificially created in order to enhance the divide and conquer principle underpinning the lucrative divorce industry.  

While most fathers have also generally believed the legislation to favour mothers, many mothers have discovered the now wide ranging definitions of Domestic Violence legislation, which is administered by the States, make it relatively easy for either one of the parents to make a malicious first strike by making false allegations of violence and abuse against their ex-partners. They do so in order to obtain an insurmountable advantage over the other parent, as the children are automatically left in the care of those making the allegations.

Such vexatious claims take considerable time and money to investigate, and because during this period the children are left with the perjuring accuser,  such valuable time is used to indoctrinate the children and turn them against the accused parent. Then along comes the Family Court Judiciary, who generally rubber stamp such established living arrangements, claiming them to represent the “Best Interest of the Children”.

The vast majority of both mothers and fathers around the country, find it difficult to believe that Australia’s chief law officer, the Attorney General, Robert McClelland, would actually propose the abolition of punishment for the crime of perjury in any jurisdiction, but especially so in the emotionally charged jurisdiction of Family Law, where so many children continue to be removed from loving, protective parents, based on the evidence provided by perjurers.  

Forcibly separated and alienated from their children, Australian mothers are joining forces with the fathers and will continue to speak out and raise public awareness in an unsuspecting community. A community not yet fully aware, that by providing the perfect platform for tearing apart important family bonds, the Australian government is unwittingly engaged in the destruction of the very fabric that holds our fragile society together.

Editor

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The On-Going Debate

With special presenters:

• Ian Purdie and
• Ray Lenton.

With most of the crew away during the Easter break, Ian Purdie and Ray Lenton decided to engage in a lively fashion and discuss some of the many difficulties faced by separating families. The debate ranged from Child Support issues to that of Parenting in separate households and how the Education system deals with separated parents.

While the unnecessary problems created for separated parents and their children, remains firmly embedded in the form of demonstrably flawed Family Law legislation, the debate will continue to rage. The fact that the delivery of Family Justice has blossomed into a multi-billion dollar industry, ensures the nation’s families will continue to be torn apart and stripped of their family bonds and emotional well-being.

The only hope of reprieve for Australian families from these legislative attacks on their dignity and inhumane treatment at the hands of this despicable “Industry”, is that a future more enlightened and empathetic Parliamentary representation will eventually emerge. Only then will the sheer stupidity of what we are presently engage in surface, and the many horror stories be listened to.

The more than one million Australian children, who have been forcibly prevented from enjoying the protection a loving relationship with their other parent could have offered, and who were denied the support of extended family members, will speak out and condemn the appalling apathy and disinterest shown by our current crop of self-interest filled parliamentary leadership and bureaucracy.

Sooner or later our nation will bow its collective head in shame, as it ponders how on earth it failed to recognize the atrocities it was inflicting on our innocent children, and how we failed to speak out in order to protect them from so much unnecessary suffering.

Unlike the problems that a lack of documented evidence produced for our Indigenous population, there is a mountain of documented evidence and written accounts of the horrors inflicted on our children and their parents, at the hands of this “Industry”, which has been allowed to decimate the lives of so many.

This evidence will show the world, that while we liked to bath in the glory of our proud achievements on foreign battle fields, we thought nothing of removing our children from the arms of loving parents at home.

It will clearly show that while we were quite prepared to send our young men off to die for the freedom of others in foreign lands, we were happily engaged in denying our own children the freedom to love and be loved by both of their parents back in our own country.

But sooner or later these  children will tell their stories and people will begin to listen. It is then, that we will triumph over tyranny “Lest We Forget”

Editor

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White House Council on Boys to Men

With special guests:

• Tom Golden and
• Jack Kammer.

This week on Dads on the Air we talk to two members of the recently established “Proposal for a White House Council on Boys to Men”, Tom Golden and Jack Kammer from the USA. They are two leading members of a multi-partisan Commission of thirty-four nationally-known scholars and practitioners, who have submitted a proposal that President Obama create a White House Council on Boys to Men.  

The mere presidential announcement of a White House Council on Boys to Men makes visible an invisible crisis. A White House Conference on Boys to Men to present “best practices” within one year after the Council is created, will prove invaluable to the future well- being of our Men.

Designed to tackle a nationwide crisis of boys and men, the Commission identifies the following five main components:

• Education. Boys are behind girls in almost every subject, especially reading and writing. Yet boy-friendly programs (e.g., recess and vocational education) are being curtailed.      

• Jobs. Our sons are not being prepared for jobs where the jobs will be. Yet women rarely marry men in unemployment lines.    

• Fatherlessness. A third of boys are raised in father-absent homes; yet boys and girls with significant father involvement do better in more than 25 areas.    

•   Physical health. Life expectancy has gone from one to five years less for males than for females, yet federal offices of boys and men’s health are non-existent.  

• Emotional health. Boys’ suicide rate goes from equal to girls to five times girls’ between ages 13 and 20, as boys feel the pressures of the male role.  

Each of the five crisis components is potentially handled by a different department of the government; therefore coordination and prioritisation is best handled at the White House level.

With a Short-Term Investment of One million dollars, the Long-Term Savings will add up to Many billions of dollars. (For example, boys who are cared for become men who care for–men who pay taxes for schools rather than drain taxes for prisons.) The quality-of-Life Savings will be Priceless.

Tom Golden, LCSW is the author of two books about men’s unique paths to healing. The first is titled Swallowed by a Snake: The Gift of the Masculine Side of Healing and the second is called A Man You Know is Grieving: 12 Ideas for Helping Him Heal From Loss. Tom has given workshops on this topic in the U.S.,  Australia, Canada and Europe. His work has been featured in the NY Times, the Washington Post, on CNN, CBS Evening News, ESPN, the NFL Channel and others. Tom serves on the Maryland Commission for Men’s Health and lives outside Washington DC.

Jack Kammer, MSW, MBA returned to school at the age of fifty-four to earn Masters degrees in Social Work and Business Administration. He did so to document, highlight and take action on male gender issues and the social problems that arise when those issues are ignored and mishandled. He specialises in the Race and Gender effect on marginalized African-American men and boys in urban settings. He is also the author of If Men Have All the Power How Come Women Make the Rules: and other radical thoughts for men who want more fairness from women and Good Will Toward Men: Women Talk Candidly About the Balance of Power Between the Sexes. He has a new book (2009) for boys and young men, titled Heroes of the Blue Sky Rebellion: How You and Other Young Men Can Claim All the Happiness in the World.

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In Support of Men

With special guests:

• Paul Elam and

• Mark Brooks.
  

On today’s show, as we cross from one continent to another, we witness the widespread, humiliating, emasculation of men and boys, which is now deeply embedded in the way we view equality and social justice in the western democracies.   

The manipulated silent majority which makes up our communities, blindly accepts the incredible debasement of the male of the human species, and laughs at their demise and discomfort, as they struggle with the constant attacks on their dignity and persona.   

As happened with other human rights abuses of the past, an ignorant community led by weak leadership, unquestioningly accepts the demonizing, stereotyping and marginalizing of members of a particular societal group, and fails to recognize this bigoted behaviour as an abuse of fundamental human rights.    

First up we speak to American social commentator Paul Elam, former Editor-in-Chief of Men’s News Daily and founder of A Voice for Men, who speaks about his new AVfM Radio program and issues around marriage and chivalry in modern times. Paul makes the following observations: 

“We live in an age where men are open targets.  Family law has developed into a dystopian system of government tyranny against men, on the supposed behalf of women, that represents the biggest roll back of civil rights since  the age of Jim Crow.  False accusations against men for all manner vileness including rape, child molestation, domestic abuse and the like have become epidemic and the perpetrators remain largely unpunished”. 

“This is just a part of a modern system of feminist governance that has gone to such extremes that we now have women who are murdering their husbands, often shooting them in their sleep, and walking away because they claim it was an act of defense from domestic abuse”.

“Our sons presence in institutions of higher education is dwindling rapidly, as is there performance in grades K-12. With 40% representation in college compared to women, and falling, there is also expected to be 18 million American men between the ages of 25 and 54 in the near future that will be unemployed and unemployable”. 

We then speak with Mark Brooks in the UK, who is chairman of the ManKind Initiative (UK).  In an article written by Mark on the 14th October 2010, he  draws attention to the gender divide and how comfortable the establishment is to engage in the bigoted denigration of men.    

“When Judge John Milford was sentencing Dennis Long, who stabbed his partner of 30 years to death, he said “You are a placid, unassertive, rather weak man”, as well as stating that as the bread-winner he should have permanently moved out of the family home”.

“The key litmus test is whether the judge would have made the same comments if the genders had been reversed. Rightly, I cannot see any possibility where a judge would say or even feel comfortable in stating that a woman who had been a victim of domestic abuse for 30 years was “a rather weak woman”, but the judge felt comfortable in saying this to a male victim”. 

“The same applies when Long was told he should have left because he was the ‘breadwinner’ - an irrelevant issue. Would a judge say that if Long was female. I think not. What is so appalling about these out-of-date, out-of-touch and sexist comments is that at its heart it places the responsibility on the victim not on the person carrying out the domestic abuse”.  

“Male victims, like female victims, are not weak, and it sends out the wrong message to say they are. No wonder twice as many men as women choose not to tell anyone about the domestic abuse they are suffering when this is the attitude of the judiciary. No victim of domestic abuse, whether female or male, should ever be described in this way and the judge obviously needs a better understanding of the power and control that perpetrators hold over their victim”.  

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Family Law and Feminism

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”.

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What Our Policy Makers Need To Hear

• 
• Family Law Amendments Discussion

Today’s on-air DOTA team of  Ian Purdie, Phillip York and Ray Lenton, discuss the hidden deceptive  details of the  Family Law Legislation Amendment (Family Violence and Other Measures) Bill 2011, as proposed by the Gillard Government.  

Areas of greatest concern are: 1. The Repeal of s117AB relating to costs orders for false allegations. 2. The proposed amendments to s60CC (3) (c ) the benefit to the child having a meaningful relationship with both parents. 3. The 4AB Definition of family violence, 4. Subsection 4(1)(c ) which deals with the definition of abuse.  

There is a general apathy by our elected representatives to take an active interest in these amendments, even when there is no doubt the outcome will be disastrous for the nation’s children and their families.

The fact that these proposed amendments show the same bungling ineptitude in policy development, as that used in the Pink Bats and Cash for Clunkers fiasco’s, does not even appear to register with our elected members.  

In short, what the amendments propose is to actually reward liars for their criminal acts of perjury and perverting the course of justice and also recommends rewarding the most unreasonable parent for being unreasonable. The amendments further propose lowering the definition of family violence bar, to ensure every member of the community will qualify as an abuser in one form or another.   

Astonishingly, these proposed Gillard Government Family Law amendments, have not caused alarm bells to ring in the ranks of our Federal Opposition, causing further dismay and disillusionment at the lack of quality and competence of our elected representatives.  

Any parent about to separate, who is contemplating going to court in the hope of obtaining a just outcome for their children, would be well advised to listen to to-day’s Family Law discussion, in order to prepare themselves for what lies ahead.

It is also important to remember, that you will not receive any genuine sympathy or help from your elected representative, unless you are a dysfunctional parent who is willing to lie and kidnap your children and indoctrinate them into turning against their other parent.        

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What Our Attorney General Doesn't Want You To Know

With special guests:

• Toni McLean and
• Dr. Kim Halford.

The disturbing worldwide trend of disenchantment with the quality of Parliamentary representation is not without good reason. Witness the growing abandonment of all the major parties in recent democratic elections around the globe, and it becomes clear the electorate is tired of being treated with contempt by their elected representatives.  

A case in point is the secretive, evasive behaviour of our AG, Robert McClelland, who, without providing one shred of documented Police evidence to support his hysterical rhetoric of many children being abused while on Court ordered contact visits with their non-custodial parents, is now in the process of attempting to ram through draconian legislation without proper public scrutiny.  

Mr McClelland claims that more than 70% of public submissions support his proposed legislation, and incredibly considers this to indicate that the majority of the community supports his proposed legislation. However, despite repeated requests from the public, he refuses to release these submissions to public scrutiny.  

In a Democracy, transparency is required in order that justice is not only done but can be seen to be done, this is what the community demands and expects. The continuing aversion to public scrutiny by our AG, will only help to increase community suspicion and concern, about the hidden agenda and competence of the Gillard Government.   

On today’s program, we again take a look at the facts behind the hysterical Domestic Violence debate, which is widely used to label all men as perpetrators in order to separate them from their children, and underpins the proposed Family Violence Legislation.  

Our first guest is Toni McLean, Counsellor, Psychotherapist, Coach, Workshop Presenter, and Trainer, who is the principal counsellor for the “Think Twice!” suite of services. She offers a complete range of options for individuals and couples experiencing difficulty in their relationships from normal conflict through to all forms of abuse, as well as physical violence.  

Toni is an experienced counsellor and psychotherapist, with particular experience in the areas of relationship counselling; individual counselling; abuse and violence; trauma; anxiety and depression; and self-harming. Toni has significant experience in working with victims of domestic violence and with those who are abusing in their relationships.

Toni is also an experienced group facilitator and an accredited Myers Briggs Personality Type practitioner. In group counselling, Toni is assisted by experienced and supportive group facilitators. In addition to working with couples experiencing normal conflict, Toni has also developed a framework, based on current best practice from around the world, for assessing the complexity of the violence in a relationship, in order to tailor the solution to the situation and the couple.  

Our second guest is Dr Kim Halford, Professor of Clinical Psychology and Director of Clinical Programs at the University of Queensland speaking about his recent research finding on Relationship aggression, violence and self-regulation in Australian newlywed couples.   

His past work includes that as a Visiting Professor at the University of Oregon (1989), Manchester University (1993), University of North Carolina (1997) and Chinese University of Hong Kong (2006), as well as being a regular visitor and collaborator with colleagues at Denver University, Brigham Young University and the Technical university of Braunschweig. These experiences have sparked a keen interest in him, regarding cross-cultural issues in family psychology.

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