Family Law or Legislative Terrorism?

With special guests:

• Greg Andresen
• Dr. Colin Jory and
• Sue Price.

Once again Dads on the Air is well ahead of the media pack, by investigating and separating the facts from the spin. Further to our own submission, today’s show will focus on the way our Government is about to use unsubstantiated claims and mis-information, in order to hoodwink the public into believing some sort of Domestic Violence pandemic is forcing it to ‘reform’ Australian Family Laws, as per the Family Law Amendment (Family Violence) Bill 2010. Oh and surprise, surprise, this is all for the ‘Best Interest of the Children’ of cause.  

The general public, who still thinks it can’t happen to them, will eventually be horrified to learn how their fellow citizens are being treated with absolute contempt and fleeced of everything dear to them, by a multi-billion dollar government sponsored divorce industry, which is driven by fanatical ideologues who hold our legislators to ransom with hysterical hyperbole about the level of Domestic Violence in the community.   

Unfortunately, to their own peril, it is not until families face the somber prospect of being permanently separated from each other, that they belatedly start to look around at what they face. In most cases however, by then it is far too late, and the outcome for the vast majority is soul destroying.   

First up we speak with Greg Andresen, who is researcher and media liaison with Men’s Health Australia - Australia’s primary source of information about the psychological and social wellbeing of men and boys. He is also senior researcher with the One in Three Campaign. The One in Three Campaign aims to raise public awareness of the existence and needs of male victims of family violence and abuse; to work with government and non-government services alike to provide assistance to male victims; and to reduce the incidence and impacts of family violence on Australian men, women and children.  

Greg worked on submissions from both Men’s Health Australia and One in Three to the recent Family Law Amendment (Family Violence) Bill 2010. He is with us today to talk of his concerns about the proposed bill from both a men’s health and a family violence perspective.  

Next we speak to Dr. Colin Jory, secondary school teacher, historian and Shakespeare scholar, who recently wrote in News Weekly (Letters, October 30) “that if the pro-family political parties want to make huge gains in their vote, all they need do is make a sustained assault on the Family Law Act, the Family Law Court and the domestic violence industry”.  

He further stated “that of all the factors which harm the Australian family and do draconian injustice to individual Australians, nothing remotely compares with these in scope or severity”.  

“Now the Gillard Labor Government has revealed its intention to amend the Family Law Act to make it even more draconian and unjust. In 2006, the Howard Coalition Government amended the act to require judges to approach custody cases with the “rebuttable presumption” that both parents are equally important in a child’s upbringing. The presumption is rebuttable in the sense that if there is compelling evidence that one of the parents is likely to harm the child, access should be limited in proportion to the risk”.   

We close the show with the ever vigilant Sue Price, Co-Founder and Director Men’s Rights Agency. The Men’s Rights Agency also reluctantly responded to the proposed Family Law Amendments, as their experience has shown it is a complete waste of time, due to the outcome generally already having been pre-determined. Accordingly in their submission she writes the following:  

“We are responding to your suggested amendments to the family law act under extreme protest. In fact, we would prefer to boycott the whole process because our community well understands the uselessness of responding to government inquiries, when there is a strong suspicion the government has already predetermined the outcome. However, we are placed in the position of having to respond or be accused of failing to do so when the limited opportunity was provided.  

While there is a need to protect women and children from abuse there is also a need to recognise men and children need protection from women who are abusive and violent.  

There is also a need to recognise the 2006 changes were initiated because too many children were being denied an opportunity to develop a relationship with their father.”  

We again extend an invitation to any Federal Parliamentarian who would like to join us on air, in order to defend the proposed Family Law Amendments. The community would dearly like to hear from their elected representatives in order to find out the truth about such an important issue, which ultimately will adversely affect so many of their fellow Australians.  

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Family Court's Reward Perjury, Punish Victims

With special guest:

• ‘Rick’

Welcome to 2011, a year that will see more Australians denied access to their families than ever before in our history. At the start of this new decade, 5.2 million Australian men, women and children find themselves having been forcibly torn from their loved ones, since the Family Justice Industry began waging its reign of terror in 1975.  

We live in a dark period of our history, where, under the self serving leadership of six different Prime Ministers, not one politician has had the courage to stand up in Parliament and challenge this multi billion dollar juggernaut, by saying loud and clear “this is wrong and indefensible and I will no longer offer my support”.

Instead, collectively, we choose to silently tolerate the following examples of reprehensible behaviour by those engaged in the perjury riddled Family Justice Industry, which richly rewards perjurers and punishes the victims. Incredibly we continue to remain mesmerized by the mythical ‘Best Interest of the Children’ slogan, so deceptively used to remove many million’s of Australians from their families, and causing 35,000 of the nations’ father’s to commit suicide since 1975.  

If anyone should still be in doubt about the abhorrent extend of the family destructive outcomes meted out by a judiciary, which goes about rewarding perjurers and punishing the victims in our Family Courts, while at the same time fraudulently claiming they have no alternatives, please note the following:

Perjury Rewarded 1
Perjury Rewarded 2
Perjury Rewarded 3

In order to further illustrate the depth of Government complicity through the multitude of agencies which administer their family destructive policies, on today’s program we speak to one such dispossessed parent ‘Rick’ [not his real name for legal reasons], who was jailed for sending a birthday card to his young daughter.   

Today’s newsletter, the first for 2011, has been forwarded to every Australian Politician, who has been elected to represent all Australians in our Federal Parliament, taking away any future option to plead ignorance.     

We repeat our invitation to any Australian Politician who would like to join us on air, to publicly defend and justify the proposed Family Law Amendments, which stand to further encourage perjurers, destroy family relationships, and cause increasing numbers of the nation’s children to be abandoned into the care of the most dysfunctional of their parents.   

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Parents Under Siege

With special guest:

• ‘Daniel’

Biological parents around the globe, both mothers and fathers, are under siege from the brutal excesses of their own government’s crippling Family Law legislation, which sees many millions being dispossessed of their children on the bases of the flimsiest of allegations made by toxic ex partners, aided by State functionaries.    

Today we speak to one of those biological parents ‘Daniel’ [not his real name for legal reasons], a distraught Australian father who has spent the past 13 years desperately trying to have his son returned to his care and protection, following the boys’ removal from his parents’ care by Docs of NSW,  on the ground of allegations of abuse and neglect, which were subsequently proven to be false.

The desperate emotional trauma of having their son removed on the basis of false allegations, eventually resulted in the marriage breakdown, and this father is almost at the end of his tether at not having had contact with his long lost son for many years.

More questions therefore urgently need to be asked in order to establish the possible underlying causes for such a disturbing high level of government involvement in the lucrative child stealing racket that appears to be taking place.

Of particular interest is the fact that the governments’ own reports show that tens of thousands of the nation’s children are removed from one or more of their parents every year with the help of a number of government agencies such as the Family Courts, the Domestic Violence Industry and the Departments of Community Services. This has resulted in 5.2 million innocent Australians having been denied contact with their loved ones since 1975, on the say so of the country’s worst perjurers, child kidnappers, and State functionaries, who consider this to be in “Our Best Interest”.  

Instead, the Gillard Government in Australia is proposing further Family Law amendments in 2011, which define the raising of your voice or throwing a threatening glance as abusive acts, and will immediately brand every Australian both as an abuser and a victim,  making it even easier to make vexatious claims. Currently similar barbaric State DV legislation is used to separate parents from their children, property and savings, since false allegations can be made with absolute impunity. This establishes a parenting arrangement which favors the perjurer and accommodates the insidious practice of parental kidnapping. Yet perjury is a crime that strikes at the very heart of justice!  

Any toxic parent, either a mother or father, who makes a pre-emptive first strike by taking such action becomes a winner, as such parenting arrangements obtained by deception, are generally rubber stamped by the Federal Family Court. Incredibly, in such cases the FCA in its infinite wisdom, does not want to upset the established living arrangements with the perjurer, as it considers this to not be “In the Best Interest of the Children”.  It is common knowledge, that those working in the lucrative divorce industry regularly suggest this course of action to their clients, as for them the priority is money, not children.  

Many of the children who were dispossessed of their families in the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s, are now adults with children of their own. Unfortunately a large number are still of the false belief that their other parent was a horrible, unworthy person who abandoned them, not caring about their child’s well-being. In most cases, nothing could be further from the truth. Sadly these children were not only denied a happy wholesome childhood, but lost half of their biological family as well. Even as adults, most still live with the indoctrinated false perceptions of reality, which were implanted during their childhood, blissfully unaware that 35,000 of their fathers have committed suicide, due to the forcible loss of their children since 1975. Countless others have turned to substance abuse as they self medicate to kill their pain.  

Our elected representatives of all political persuasions, continue to blindly accept the distorted views of the anti-shared parenting lobby, while conveniently choosing to ignore all the available data that suggests otherwise, for reasons of political expediency.

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Families In Fear Of Their Governments

With special guest:

• ‘Diana’

Seasons Greetings to all our listeners from the Dads on the Air team, and we hope that 2011 will bring some sort of sanity to the debate on Family Law reform, which has been raging around the globe now for the past 36 years. At a time when serious reform and a Judicial enquiry is needed, the Gillard Labour Government proposes another round of meaningless amendments which do nothing except wind the clock back to 1975, by returning families to where they were at the beginning of this human catastrophe.
 
Dads on the Air has forwarded a copy of our ‘submission’ on the proposed amendments, to the leadership of all our Political Parties as well as every independent member of our current Federal Parliament. Therefore Politicians of all persuasions, can no longer claim ignorance as a defense, and will one day have to face up to their lack of accountability. 
 
No Australian family is safe from a Family Justice system that belongs in the sixteenth century, and every man, woman, and child needs to ask the following serious questions of their elected representatives and the mainstream media. Talk back radio would be a good forum to start raising such awareness and encourage public discourse.
 
1. Why have 5.2 million innocent Australians been denied contact with their loved ones since 1975, on the say so of the country’s worst perjurers, child kidnappers, and State functionaries, who consider this to be in “Our Best Interest”?
 
2. Why have 35,000 innocent Australian fathers been allowed to be driven to suicide, and caused untold thousands of others to turn to substance abuse, as they self medicated to kill the unbearable pain of the forcible loss of their children, since the destructive operations of the current Family Justice System began in 1975?
 
In their twisted logic our Parliamentary representatives seem to think that only men are negatively impacted, and that to change direction now, would negatively impact the women’s vote. What they fail to realize is that for every man who is destroyed by the Family Justice System, there is a mother, sister, daughter and partner, who are also affected and who are appalled at the treatment their loved ones are receiving, at the hands of what has now blossomed into a multi-billion dollar Family Justice Industry.
 
More and more innocent mothers are also falling victim to the current system, as malicious separating fathers are starting to use the system in the same way malicious mothers have behaved for many years. Not unexpectedly, the proposed amendments will ensure the Family Court will remain a Palace of  Perjury.                                                                                          

Our program today is a pre-recorded interview with one such mother ‘Diana’, [Not her real name for legal reasons]  ‘Parental Alienation Australia’ who has lost contact with two of her children because of the appalling behaviour of her ex partner, who engaged the same deceitful tactics used by so many mothers, who continue to be encouraged by a parasitic industry, because of badly flawed Family Justice Legislation.

Accordingly, we would hereby like to extend an open invitation to any Australian Politician, who would like to join us on the program in order to defend the proposed Family Law Amendments of 2010.

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She-Wolves and Parental Alienation

With special guests:

• Elizabeth Willmott Harrop and

• Professor William Bernet M.D.

As the year draws to a close, we wish we could draw a line under the demise of fathers and their children, but there is no end in sight to the level of ignorance that prevails in our community, about the destructive practices of the divorce industry. Not until they face the somber prospect of being permanently separated from their children, do parents start to look around at what they face. In most cases it is far to late, and the outcome for the vast majority is soul destroying.   
She may not be the first, nor will she be the last, to speak out in abhorrence at the level of accepted community bigotry. However on the subject of female child abusers, nobody does it better than Elizabeth Willmott Harrop, “She-Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing”. Elizabeth resides in New Zealand, is a freelance writer, and has a Masters Degree in Human Rights and Social Change.

If anyone should be in doubt about the true state of who is actually involved with the abuse of children in our communities, they should listen to this weeks’ excellent interview with Elizabeth. As a well informed social commentator from New Zealand, she has carefully researched the subject, and articulates her findings with a passion, reserved for those stung by a horrible truth.

Elizabeth details her research, which includes statistics from the USA , Australia and the UK, as well as that of her native New Zealand, and the global findings are frighteningly similar.

What is most distressing is the level of Government unwillingness to recognize the findings of a plethora of studies, which reveal that female child abusers not only exist, but in actual number, almost equals the number of male abusers.

Unbelievably, despite the wealth of credible information available, elected representatives in the western democracies, persist in turning a blind eye to the truth about this issue, resulting in the drafting of hopelessly ineffective child protection legislation, which continues to be founded on a distorted perception of reality.  

Our second guest is Professor William Bernet M.D, who is Professor of Psychiatry at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, USA.  Dr. Bernet has been a member of the faculty since 1992, and is the director of Vanderbilt Forensic Services, the program that applies psychiatric expertise to legal situations.  Professor Bernet’s research provides valuable insight into the Parental Alienation Syndrome, and his work and efforts for better recognition of this phenomenon is to be applauded.   

The many parents and children who have had this unwanted abuse inflicted upon them, are well advised to listen to the interviews with these highly respected experts, and perhaps find some understanding and solace, for their undoubted emotional torment at having been forcibly separated from those they love most.

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Chaos At The Crossroads

With special guest:

• John Stapleton.

Joining us this week is well known and respected Australian Journalist, Author and co-founder of Dads On The Air, John Stapleton, who will launch his new book, ‘Chaos At The Crossroads’, which tells the story of the long struggle for family law reform in Australia. It also tells the interesting story of the formation of Dads On The Air.

There is no doubt this book will be much sought after by future historians, as it provides an important account of the anguish and despair suffered by so many thousands of Australian families, made possible due to atrocious Family Law Legislation, during an extremely dark period in our history. It also documents the work of those who stood up to the anti Men, Father and Family lobby, many of whom have devoted thousands of hours of their own time, to alert the wider community to the destructive excesses of the prevailing multi- billion dollar Family Justice Industry.  

John wrote for a variety of Australian publications including The Bulletin and The Financial Review before joining the staff of The Sydney Morning Herald in the mid 1980s. He spent the last 15 years of his journalistic career, until 2009, working as a general news reporter on The Australian. He is the proud father of two teenage children. His work has appeared in several anthologies, including Men Love Sex and Australian Politics.

In 2000 he joined a small group of separated dads at 2GLF in western Sydney and helped to found Dads On The Air, now the world?s longest running fathers radio program. Over the next nine years he spent many hundreds of hours keeping the then struggling program alive. He is currently living in Bangkok. The shown continues to prosper without him. On a visit to Sydney in October 2010 he participated in Dads On The Air?s tenth anniversary program, which featured some of its original members and most enduring supporters.

About ‘CHAOS AT THE CROSSROADS’:  

“An early draft of Chaos At The Crossroads went up at the old Dads On The Air website in 2004, when the environment for family law reform was entirely different to what it is today. Six years after that first rough draft, the first edition of the evolving story of family law reform in Australia is complete and becomes available for purchase as an e-book this week. It is a case study in community activism, institutional resistance to change, political chicanery and the damage that can be done by allowing ideology to dominate public policy.

Chaos At The Crossroads: Family Law Reform in Australia will be available at all major e-book retailers including Apple’s iBookstore, Amazon.com, Sony’s Reader Store, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Borders Books, and Diesel eBook Store, which combined cover 98 per cent of the eBook market.  

The book unabashedly looks at the issues of family law from a father’s perspective. Without the hundreds of millions of dollars that are poured into supporting women’s causes of all kinds, including advocacy groups and grants to university researchers, father’s voices are often invisible in the public debate. We try to redress the balance a little in our own humble way.

Chaos At The Crossroads is the first manuscript to be published by Dads On The Air Books. In the future we hope to encourage other authors to come into the stable. For fathers there can be all too many stories to tell; and we would ultimately hope to support a wide variety of work, from exposes of the divorce industry to memoirs of fathers and the roles they have played, picturesque, piquant, sad, appalling, wonderful; as well as to disseminate academic texts and journalese, fact and fiction.

Chaos tells the story of the long and frustrating struggle for family law reform in Australia, not just by separated fathers, their supporters and their lobby groups, but by grandparents and other family members cut out of children’s lives by the sole-custody model purveyed by the court, second wives, children of divorce, non-custodial mothers and those with a concern for social justice and the poor personal outcomes for fathers and children alike post-separation, or for the unfashionable issue of the consequences of state-created fatherlessness and the community disfigurement that results.

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The Recognition Of Parental Alienation

With Special guests:

• Dr. Glenn Ross Caddy and

• Prof. William Bernet, MD.

Incredibly, there are still those who believe the earth is flat, and others who are adamant that the holocaust never took place. These delusional skeptics are joined by those who are still in denial about the existence of Parental Alienation. 

Despite the availability of a mountain of documented evidence, in the form of peer reviewed academic research, a host of books and articles, as well as numerous court documents and victim accounts, there are still those who refuse to accept, that indoctrination of millions of vulnerable children, could possibly be taking place. 

 

The only conclusion that can be drawn from such delusional reasoning, so dangerous to our children’s well being, is that many of these so called ‘experts’, are either terribly incompetent or highly motivated to protect their lucrative source of income, which is derived from their involvement with the Family Justice Industry.

 

Today we speak with two academic experts on Parental Alienation, who live in the real world, and who share the disbelief that this form of child abuse is still not more widely acknowledged.

First up we speak with Australian Clinical and Forensic Psychologist Dr. Glenn Ross Caddy, who explains the pathology of Parental Alienation. Dr Ross Caddy describes in detail the terrible consequences of such child abuse, and how it negatively impacts not only the child, but also many other extended family members.

 

Our second guest is Professor William Bernet M.D, who is Professor of Psychiatry at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, USA.  Dr. Bernet has been a member of the faculty since 1992, and is the director of Vanderbilt Forensic Services, the program that applies psychiatric expertise to legal situations.  Professor Bernet’s research provides valuable insight into the Parental Alienation Syndrome, and his work and efforts for better recognition of this phenomenon is to be applauded. 

 

The many parents and children who have had this unwanted abuse inflicted upon them, are well advised to listen to the interviews with these highly respected experts, and perhaps find some understanding and solace, for their undoubted emotional torment at having been forcibly separated from those they love most.

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Celebrating A Decade Of Dads On The Air

With special guests:

• Dr. Stephen Baskerville
• Sue Price
• Geoffrey Greene
• Barry Williams
• Warwick Marsh
• John Flannagan and
• Tony Miller.

In a remarkable show of solidarity and a sign that hope can defeat despair, a determined group of fathers and supporters gathered at Sydney radio station 2GLF this week, to celebrate 10 years of Dads On The Air. Both past and present members of the DOTA team came from far and wide, and proudly renewed a steadfast resolve to continue with their mission, to expose the immoral practices of an atrocious family justice industry, made possible by appallingly ineffective Family Law legislation.     

As they stood around the studio kitchen table, focused on a birthday cake, singing happy birthday DOTA, these traumatized Dads resembled a group of returned soldiers who, having been highly traumatized by the ravages of war, are in the process of rebuilding their lives. Their common bond was forged by the trauma suffered at the loss of access to their children, which has been forced upon them against their will, by a number of Government agencies.  

Successive Governments continue to inflict this trauma upon their citizenry, by persisting with the protection of the child removal industry, rather then protecting the family bonds of their constituents. For many years now, Governments of all persuasions have allowed their social policy platforms to be hijacked by a corrupt and inhumane anti-family, anti-male, Family Justice Industry, which is removing children from families in ever increasing numbers, leaving every family vulnerable to the destructive ravishes of this Industry.  

But what is now the world’s longest running radio program dealing with Men and Father issues, Dads On The Air, will continue to expose and broadcast to the world, the excesses of these crimes against humanity.  

Members of the DOTA team in the studio, were co-founders of DOTA, respected journalist John Stapleton, retired Police Detective Rick Torning [Uncle Buck], and former police officer Rod Hardwick, other team members present were, Author and Musician Ian Purdie, Musician and Entertainer Peter van de Voorde, Co-ordinator of Dads in Distress Phillip York, Researcher with Men’s Health Australia Greg Andresen, Lawyer and Mediator Bill Kable.

They were joined on air by a number of other leading advocates calling for urgent changes to Family Justice legislation, from both Australia and overseas, all of whom are united in purpose and working hard to inform Governments, that they are failing in their duty of care to protect the bonds of parent/child relationships Internationally.   

Our first guest was celebrated American Author and Assistant Professor of Political Science, Dr.Stephen Baskerville, ‘Taken Into Custody’ , followed by Sue Price, Men’s Rights Agency, Geoffrey Greene, former federal director Shared Parenting Council of Australia, Barry Williams, President, Lone Fathers Association, Australia, Warwick Marsh, Fatherhood Foundation, John Flannagan, Non Custodial Parents Party, and Tony Miller, Order of Australia Medal recipient, and founder of Dads in Distress.   

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She-Wolves In Sheeps' Clothing

With special guests:

• Elizabeth Willmott Harrop and
• Steve Martin.

She may not be the first, nor will she be the last, to speak out in abhorrence at the level of accepted community bigotry. However on the subject of female child abusers, nobody does it better than Elizabeth Willmott Harrop, “She-Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing”. Elizabeth resides in New Zealand, is a freelance writer, and has a Masters Degree in Human Rights and Social Change.

If anyone should be in doubt about the true state of who is actually involved with the abuse of children in our communities, they should listen to this weeks’ excellent interview with Elizabeth. As a well informed social commentator from New Zealand, she has carefully researched the subject, and articulates her findings with a passion, reserved for those stung by a horrible truth.

Elizabeth details her research, which includes statistics from the USA , Australia and the UK, as well as that of her native New Zealand, and the global findings are frighteningly similar.

What is most distressing is the level of Government unwillingness to recognize the findings of a plethora of studies, which reveal that female child abusers not only exist, but in actual number, almost equals the number of male abusers.

Unbelievably, despite the wealth of credible information available, elected representatives in the western democracies, persist in turning a blind eye to the truth about this issue, resulting in the drafting of hopelessly ineffective child protection legislation, which continues to be founded on a distorted perception of reality.

 

We are also joined by Steve Martin, CEO of Stepfamilies Australia, Melbourne, who speaks in detail about the dads in stepfamilies and the services offered by his organization.    

It is estimated that one in five Australian families is a stepfamily, which is fast becoming a prominent part of Australian family life. Many of these families need information, education and support. While there are many resources for biological families available to the community, the unique differences associated with stepfamilies are not well addressed, with very few services available.

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The Plight Of Modern Man

With special guest:

• Paul Mischefski.  
                                                                              
  

This week we feature an interesting pre-recorded interview with investigative journalist Paul Mischefski of Mens Wellbeing, who speaks on a range of issues facing modern man in the 21st Century. In particular, there is considerable discussion around the way Domestic Violence issues are dealt with in Australia and elsewhere.  

Paul throws much doubt on the way information is gathered and how studies are conducted, which is reflected in poor domestic violence policy formulation by our governments. The resulting damage to generations of innocent men and boys by such discriminating anti male Domestic Violence propaganda, is incalculable.         

The ‘Mens Wellbeing’ website provides much helpful and informative information, including the following:  

At their deepest level, most men yearn to participate in some small or large way in the creation of a better world, and in doing so serve their families, loved ones and community. How to fulfil this yearning in these complex times is a conundrum that leaves some part of just about every man struggling for clear direction within himself about what it means to be an authentic, healthy man in our society.

Being a man in the 21st Century is no easy task.  In just one generation, the expectations on men have changed dramatically. Our roles as fathers, lovers, workers, community members, brothers and friends have all changed from what was expected of our fathers, in some cases almost beyond recognition. This rapid rate of change has left many men without adequate role models and in a state of confusion about what it means to be a man in the modern era.

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Dads in Distress Special

With special guests:

• Barry Guidera
  

• Laurence Anderson
  

• Rob Koch and

• Marcia Payne.                                                                               

For Australian men, who have reached the end of their emotional ability to cope with the ravages of a Family Justice system, which has removed their children, property and savings, Dads In Distress provides a safe and supportive haven for them to regain their emotional strength and sense of self-worth.

This week we salute all those who work in this wonderful organization, and who give up much of their spare time to help their fellow human beings cope, with the preventable, most traumatizing time in their lives.

Now 10 years old, Dads In Distress [DIDS] is moving from strength to strength in support of an ever increasing group of emotionally damaged dispossessed parents. First up we speak with the National Manager of DIDS, Barry Guidera, who gives us an overview of their great work. Next we speak with the Victorian project co-ordinator Laurence Anderson who details the new operational strategies being developed. We follow this by talking to Rob Koch Better Men Australia, who acts as a consultant to DIDS, and details some of the advice he offers DIDS.

We close the show speaking with Marcia Payne, DIDS Support Services, who has worked in Women’s refuges and who, having witnessed first hand the services provided to abused women, is deeply concerned at the lack of interest shown by our Governments, to acknowledge and provide support for the growing number of abused Men in our society.

The following is a snippet from the DIDS website which offers a wealth of information and support, to those finding themselves at the end of their emotional road.

“If you are finding it hard to deal with the break-up of a marriage, depression, child access, family court or just need someone to talk to, Dads in Distress is there to help”.

“Dads in Distress is a dedicated support group of men (in Australia) whose immediate concern is to stem the present trend of male suicide due to the trauma of divorce or separation. Current statistics that have been published, indicate too many men will take their own lives in preference to facing family, friends and importantly their own children with the failure of the relationship. We aim to prevent this incidence from occurring by showing the men and the community at large that someone really cares”

“While Dads in Distress Support Services (DIDSS) by its very name appears to be focused mainly on supporting men through separation from their partner and/or children, we actually have the health, safety and well-being of ALL the family uppermost in our mind. As a harm-prevention charity it saddens us that in our modern society of Australia there are men, women and children who are being harmed, and harming one another, in the very place where love and kindness should prevail”

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One In Three Abusers Are Women

With special guests:

• Greg Andresen and 

• Sue Price.                                                                              

Our first guest is Greg Andresen, of the One in Three Campaign, who attended the recent Intimate Partner Abuse of Men Workshop, held on Wednesday 16 June 2010 in Perth, Western Australia. The workshop was aimed at service providers plus anyone who works with victims and perpetrators of family and domestic violence, and considered the implications for service providers, of the Edith Cowan University (ECU) Intimate Partner Abuse of Men research.  

Greg paints a disturbing picture of the way governments and the media, continue to be  misled by distorted and misleading facts and figures, presented by self interest groups, who want to ensure their collective snouts remain firmly planted deep inside the public trough.  

The fact that more questions are not being asked by our policymakers and the mainstream media, perhaps illustrates the reason for the continuation and acceptance of appallingly inadequate Family Laws and Domestic Violence legislation.  

By way of example, it is our understanding that a number of service providers attending the workshop, mentioned that Relationships Australia (WA) had directed their staff not to attend. This would be unsurprising, considering the views of their Manager, Terri Riley, expressed in the West Australian newspaper on June 1st 2010 (click here to view the article). As well as sustaining many discredited myths about domestic and family violence in this opinion piece, we are extremely concerned that the head of Relationships Australia, by telling male victims that they do not, and can not, experience systematic controlling abuse like women can, will prevent them from seeking help from services like Relationships Australia.  

Despite denying the documented reality that at least 1 in 3 of the perpetrators of Domestic Violence are women, Ms Riley proudly claims 7000 men sought help and support from Relationships Australia last year.   

In view of what Ms Riley has revealed about Relationship Australia’s bigoted philosophy, it would seem that any unsuspecting man seeking help and understanding for abuse from this organization, has about as much chance of success, as a victimized black man had, who sought help for abuse from the Ku Klax Clan, during its reign of terror.

The obvious question is, where are the anger management programs for the one in three  violent and  abusive women in our society? Or do we continue to pretend they do not exist? 

To provide an overview of the coming Australian election, and the possible implications for the nations’ fathers and their children, we conclude the show speaking with Sue Price from the Mens Rights Agency.   While recommending a continual vigil, to ensure the current government and its anti male followers are held to account, she nevertheless recommends boycotting the enduring bias and discriminating consultative process.  

Following 15 years of lobbying, Sue is frustrated by the way the system excludes and sidelines most of the credible independent voices, who represent the victims, and who continue to call for real justice and equality in the area of Family Law.  

Sue correctly points out, the way successive governments provide funding to a couple of lobby groups, in order to give the impression that they are actually seriously consulting with those claiming to represent the nations’ fathers. 

Unfortunately, these groups are seriously compromised, due to their total dependence on such government funding for their survival. It is well known, that if you want to neutralize your critics, you put them on your payroll.

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Intimate Partner Abuse of Men

With special guest:

• Dr. Greg Dear.

A groundbreaking report from Edith Cowan University (ECU) in Western Australia has found that male victims of domestic violence can suffer from a unique form of legal/administrative abuse previously unidentified in research, as well as experiencing most of the same impacts as female victims.

The Intimate Partner Abuse of Men report, launched on 26th May in Perth, found that “Male victims of intimate partner abuse and their children suffer a range of consequences, such as psychological distress (including disorders such as depression and anxiety disorders), suicidal ideation, impaired self concept and loss of work.”

It found that male victims are often reluctant to disclose their experience of abuse or seek help because of their sometimes justified fears that they will not be believed, that they will not be assisted or will instead be blamed for the abuse.

The study recommends that government-funded public campaigns be conducted to raise awareness of domestic violence against men; that consideration should be given to providing publicly-funded services specifically for male victims; and that workers in health and welfare fields should be provided with training to assist them to recognise and respond effectively to male victims of domestic violence.

Today on Dads on the Air, we play an in-depth interview by the One in Three Campaign with Dr. Greg Dear. Greg is Senior Lecturer in Psychology in the School of Psychology and Social Science at Edith Cowan University. He is the co-author, along with Professor Alfred Allan and Emily Tilbrook, of the Intimate Partner Abuse of Men report, commissioned by the Men’s Advisory Network.

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Divorce Poison

With special guest:

• Dr. Richard Warshak.
  

An emotive subject that affects so many separated non-custodial parents and their victim children, is the issue of Parental Alienation. The existence of PA is still denied by a number of skeptics, who belong to the same group of the ignorant amongst us, who still insist the world is flat, or deny the holocaust took place.

But thankfully most thinking and informed people, are well aware of the dangerous existence of the human ability, to indoctrinate those who are in our control and powerless to escape our absolute power and control over them. It happens in many other settings as well, but is very prevalent in the area of parental separation, where it has been given the name Parental Alienation Syndrome.

Our guest this week is Dr. Richard Warshak, who is an American expert on the subject, and who’s book Divorce Poison, is an excellent resource for those assisting others, who are dealing with this frightening and very damaging phenomenon.

Dr. Richard Warshak is convinced that a passive approach just leaves parents feeling helpless. And the damage to children is considerable, particularly when warring parents enlist children as allies in the battle.

The problems range from tainted parent-child relationships, in which children are disrespectful or reluctant to show their affection, to a disturbance in which children virtually disown one of their parents and all the relatives on that side of the family. He warns  “If you handle the situation ineffectively, you could lose your children’s respect, their affections—even, in extreme cases, lose contact with them”.

Dr Warshak also speaks about his new DVD ‘Welcome Back Pluto’, which helps children cope with their family problems. This professionally-produced DVD is designed to help children and teenagers see family problems from another perspective and avoid taking sides with one parent against the other. The program helps children empathize with the suffering of rejected parents and understand their favored parent’s perspective, and motivates children to restore positive relationships.

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Lone Fathers And DV

With special guests:

• Barry Williams and
• Dr. Peter Foster.
  

The Lone Fathers Association of Australia, will host their 2010 National Conference in Parliament House, Canberra, from the 16th to18th June 2010.

In support of this event, we open the show with the founder and long term president of the organization, Barry Williams, who explains the reason for the theme of this year’s presentation, which in 2010 will be: 

Are Shared Care/Responsibility Laws Working ? Are these laws GOOD for our children ? Have we Witnessed ANOTHER generation of stolen children ?

The association points out an interesting statistic, and then asks the following questions:  

Nearly one million dads see their children no more than four times a year.               
Contravention Orders are part of the Family Law Act. Why are they not being enforced?
Why is the contravener of these orders never punished by the Court that made them?     
Why is Domestic Violence portrayed as only ever perpetrated by the male involved?     
Why isn’t Government Funding shared equally between Women and Men’s Organisations?

We then speak with a senior lecturer in psychology at Charles Darwin University, Dr Peter Forster, who says there is no truth to the argument that testosterone levels make men more aggressive. Dr Foster says studies show women can be just as violent as men and social changes are behind a reported rise in violence among young women, and that there is no truth to the argument that testosterone levels make men more aggressive.

Dr Foster makes the observation that social factors such as the rise of feminism in the last few decades, could be behind the rise in violence amongst women. “We’ve now taken away the expectation that women will behave differently to men,” he said. Pointing out that “It used to be that one of the biggest differences” between men and women, “was that women were more peaceful, they were peacemakers”. He draws attention to the research that shows “this kind of inhibition to be violent, has gradually diminished to the point where it no longer inhibits women at all.”

Be sure to listen to next Tuesday’s show for a special exclusive interview with Dr Richard Warshak, who is the author of ‘Divorce Poison’, and a guru on parental alienation. In his work Dr Warshak offers specific advice for parents (in Australia usually Dads) whose children are caught up in this toxic situation. 

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The Search For Andrew

With special guests:

• Ken Thompson and
• Gary Bryant.
  

The pain of loosing your child never goes away, and it is a perfectly natural human reaction, that no stone is left unturned, in the desperate search to restore the most precious bond of all, the biological parent/child relationship.

Today we speak with one such parent who is doing just that, the Deputy Fire Commissioner of NSW, Ken Thompson, who has taken a very pro-active approach, in his never ending search for his much loved son Andrew.  

Ken has started an extensive bicycle journey around Europe, in order to draw attention to, not only his own dilemma, but also to the demise of so  many other children around the world who have been kidnapped and are held hostage, by the most dysfunctional of their parents.     

Next we speak with Gary Bryant of the ‘Men’s Advisory Network’ on the findings of a West Australian study into the prevalence of Domestic Violence and Intimate partner abuse of men. This is considered an important research project, commissioned by the Men’s Advisory Network (MAN), supported by a research grant from Lotterywest and executed by researchers of Edith Cowan University.

While the findings of these independent research projects continue to show a high level of female to male and female to child abuse and violence, state and federal governments around the world continue to ignore these findings. The outcome of such ignorance by our elected representatives, has resulted in the formulation of hopelessly inadequate Domestic Violence laws and regulations.   

The most commonly used weapon at the disposal of separating parents, is the use and/or threats of, false allegation of violence and abuse, made possible by badly flawed state laws, which allow one parent to separate the other parent from his/her children and property.

They do so, safe in the knowledge they can take this course of action with absolute impunity. Once such a pre-emptive first strike has been made, the other parent is left at a total  disadvantage in the Family Justice System.     

Especially since the Family Courts, which act in the federal  jurisdiction, will generally rubber stamp the ‘established arrangement’, created using these highly questionable state DV laws. Currently domestic violence laws are administered by the states and their definitions vary greatly from state to state. One thing they have in common however, is that they are all  administered in the absence of any due process provisions.  

The outcome of these miscarriages of justice is such, that in many cases the unfortunate children end up in the care of the most dysfunctional of their parents. While at the same time the better parents are excluded from any further contact with their children. The Judiciary sleeps well at night, because they simply qualify their decisions as having been made ‘In The Best Interest Of The Children’.  

In so doing, and with no effective compliance provisions, the Family Court conveniently wipes their hands of any further responsibility, leaving thousands of vulnerable and powerless children to fend for themselves.

It begs the question of how much longer our communities will tolerate the indifference and total lack of concern shown by our elected representatives, as they ignore the plight of the nation’s most vulnerable children, who are struggling to survive the inhumane conditions our collective ignorance has placed them in.     

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‘Males’ - A Global Perspective

With special guests:

• David Dufour
  
• John Forsyth
• Dr. Miles Groth and
• David Helmers. 
  

Long gone is the notion that radical feminism in the twenty first century, stands for equality and social justice for women. What has become very obvious however, is the relentless push for dominance and control by today’s radical feminists around the globe.   

In order to achieve their objective of total dominance and control over men in every area of endeavour, the male now finds himself under, both overt and covert attack and ridicule, on many fronts on a daily basis.  

While the vast majority of thinking women are appalled at the way the character of their fathers, partners, brothers and sons are under constant attack by their radical sisters, many males have great difficulty in coping with the denigrating, demonizing and stereotyping rhetoric they are forced to endure.  

This week we take a look at how the precarious status of maleness is addressed in various parts of the world.  

First up we speak with David Dufour, ‘Media Dads’ an American documentary maker, who joins us in the studio to film the Dads on the Air show, as part of his International documentary about what it means to be male in 2010.  

We then speak with Scottish journalist John Forsyth from the ‘Men in Scotland’ campaign, who speaks about the Scottish Crime and Social justice Survey 2008/2009: Partner Abuse module, which found equal percentages of male and female victims in the past 12 months.   

We next speak with ‘Professor of Psychology at Wagner College’ New York City, Dr Miles Groth, about the great need for ‘male studies’ programs to become part of the discourse in contempary society, in order to better understand males and to help address the growing problem of misandry which ultimately stands to endanger both genders.  

Last but not least, we discuss the Australian innovation of the Men’s Shed, with David Helmers of the ‘Australian Men’s Sheds Association’ (AMSA). David speaks about men’s sheds and men’s health in general and about the recently announced men’s health policy, which saw $3 million in funding go to his organisation.  

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Fathers Across The Tasman

With special guests:

• Ken McLaren and
  
• Sue Price.
  

Like elsewhere in the western world, the fathers of New Zealand fare no better when entering the murky world of the Family Justice System, following separation. However, just like everywhere else, some have found better ways then others, and actually end up maintaining some contact with their children subsequent to the breakup of their relationship.      

To take us through the process of dealing with a badly flawed Family Justice system and  still end up with some dignity, we speak with Ken McLaren from ‘The Union Of Fathers’ of New Zealand. While their methods may not work for everyone, it certainly shows there are more ways than one, to realize your objective. He gives some sound advice to all those struggling with a system of law that destroys so many lives and  relationships.    

Without doubt the number one commentator on Men’s and Father’s issues in Australia, Sue Price of the ‘Men’s Rights Agency’, provides us with an update of the latest reports calling for our submissions. Unfortunately it is common knowledge that the views, suggestions or concerns of men, will continue to be ignored  in the current anti male climate.        

For this reason and following 15 years of banging her head against a brick wall, Sue is now calling for the boycott of a Family Justice industry that does not even regard it necessary to include the views of half of the stakeholders. She is supported by many, who consider that those working within this  industry deliberately set out to avoid the risk of critical revue, in order to ensure their flow of taxpayer funded handouts are protected.    

It is no wonder therefore, that Sue Price quite rightly considers, there is no point in continuing to engage with a system that is so manifestly flawed, does so much harm to  Australia’s family bonds of kinship, and which is permitted to force it’s own agenda onto an unsuspecting community, unchallenged.  

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Class Action Against Family Violence Laws

With special guests:

• Ray Escobar and
• Dr. John Walsh.
  

The slow simmering unrest amongst dispossessed parents and children is building steadily worldwide. Increasingly governments are permitting the misuse of illegal Domestic Violence laws to separate parents from their children and property, which is wreaking intolerable havoc amongst our communities.

However slowly but surely, the restless victims and their children are starting to challenge the immoral and illegal actions of our dis-interested legislators, who have allowed these draconian laws to be passed with their stamp of approval.

In the Australian State of Tasmania, a group of concerned parents both men and women, have joined together into a fighting force and have set out to overturn these destructive Family Violence laws, claiming damages for the immense damage they have caused their families and communities. There action group is called J.A.I.L.Inc. (Juries Against Illegal laws) and their spokesman Ray Escobar is our first guest this week.

J.A.I.L. Inc has launched a class action against the Tasmanian Government and have hired a legal team headed by Dr John Walsh of Brannagh, who is our second guest on the show this week. The good Doctor is Australia’s most eminent  authority on the Australian Constitution, holds a degree in Criminal Law and has been a Magistrate. On the 4th February 2010 the Federal Court of Australia, Tasmanian Registry, date stamped the writ against the Tasmanian Government.

J.A.I.L. Inc. amongst other things is seeking damages of $200,000,000.00 as well as the complete repeal of the Tasmanian Family Violence Act of 2004. Because these illegal Domestic Violence laws are responsible for the current large scale destruction of so many parent/child relationships worldwide, there is no doubt many are watching globally to see how this action will unfold. 

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Shameful Political Apathy

With special guests:

• Greg Andresen and

• Sue Price.

When dealing with issues relating to the health and well-being of the men and boys of our society, the silence from our legislators is deafening. Apart from paying lip-service to the importance of sound policies to ensure the protection of all of the nations citizens, our legislators are completely indifferent to the plight of the male half of our citizenry.

This is especially noticeable in the area of Family Law, Domestic Violence, Child Support, Men’s Health, Boys Education, and Suicide prevention. Today we speak with Greg Andresen of (Men’s Health Australia) and Sue Price of the (Men’s Right Agency) about these issues and the lack of urgent government attention to the desperate needs of our fathers, husbands, brothers and sons, as they face an ever increasing level of persecution and neglect. 

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