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'Don't be a 'Dad!', says Australian Parenting Group in response to toothless legislation
Added: (Tue Sep 20 2005)
Press Release: September 20th, 2005
'Don't be a 'Dad!', says Australian Parenting Group in response to toothless legislation
In light of the overwhelmingly toothless recommendations recently tabled in the Family Law Amendment Bill (2005), Australian Parenting group Fathers4Equality has urged all Australian men to simply refrain from having children, if possible.
Fathers4Equality spokesperson Sonja Hastings claims that the only protection afforded to fathers from an increasingly entrenched family law ideology that has placed woman's right above and beyond the best interests of the child, is to simply refrain from fatherhood.
Ms Hastings claims that nothing in the proposed bill 'enforces' the child's right to an equal and meaningful relationship with both parents, and simply panders to the excessively tax-payer funded single-mother's lobby group, who demand equality on the one hand, but refuse equal rights to fathers and children on the other.
Ms Hastings has stated that "if the treatment fathers received in the family court today was to occur to women in any sector of society, there would be justified outrage. But judges, lawyers, politicians and many women's groups are of the view that discrimination against fathers and children of separated families is not only acceptable, but encouraged in modern day Australia."
Ms Hastings urges all Australian men to think seriously about the consequences of having children in this country. She says that "no matter how decent, hardworking & caring you may be as a father, that in the
event of separation, you will more than likely not get custody of your child, you will lose up to 80% of all your family assets, you will have to pay up to 5 times the real cost of raising a child in child support payments, & most importantly, you could never see your child again, and the law will do everything in its power to enforce your exclusion from your child's life."
However, if you still hope to be a father one day, Ms Hastings supplies the following suggestions:
• Ensure you sign a fair and reasonable pre-nuptial agreement before marriage, and use this pre-nuptial agreement to document your mutual understanding that equal parenting in the event of separation is in the best interests of the children involved.
• And voice your support to government members of parliament such as Peter Slipper MP, who have recognised the obvious shortcomings of the this new legislation, and who have suggested further amendments to emphasise the need for equal parenting as the cornerstone of this new changes.
The Hon Peter Slipper can be contacted via email at: Peter.Slipper.MP@aph.gov.au, or can be phoned on (02) 6277 4975 or faxed on (02) 6277 8514
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