Subject: Putting Family First
From: <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 9 Apr 2006 13:30:08 +1000

<http://emailblast.bosweb.com.au/bwEMailBlast/tracker/read.asp?ReadID=52
3585> 
Unable to read this email? Please click here
<http://www.bosweb.com.au/bwEMailBlast/view.asp?CampaignMediaID=811&Cont
actID=90915&ContactEmail=[email-masked]> 
 <http://www.bosweb.com.au/email_blast/templates/fathers/header.jpg> 
Issue 182 - 20th February,2006 	Go to our website Here
<http://www.fathersonline.org/> 	 
 
<http://www.bosweb.com.au/email_blast/templates/fathers/inthisissue.jpg>
*	Welcome Warwick
*	Grandads
*	Laughter
*	Single Dads
*	All you need is Love
*	Thought of the Week
*	Special Feature
*	News & Info
*	Dad's Prayer
*	About Us

Welcome Warwick

 
<http://www.bosweb.com.au/content/EB3TemplateImages/771/merrill%20fernan
do.jpg> It's amazing the inspiration you can find to become a great
father in a cup of tea.  In a cup of Dilmah tea to be precise, and it's
not so much in the tea, but in the guy that makes the tea, Merrill J
Fernando.  Merrill has a habit of including, in his packets of tea,
long, fascinating newsletters about his life as a tea-maker,
businessman, family man, father and grandfather, and they are amazing
because he is really honest about the many challenges he faces as a
father/grandfather, running a multi-national business empire.  I enclose
parts of the newsletter from Merrill J Fernando for your information.

Please bear with me for the long delay in writing my fifth letter.  I
started writing it two years ago but poor health prevented me from
completing it until now. 

The past two years brought the family and me much worry and anxiety over
my health.  Long hours at work, extensive travel, no relaxation, no
holidays and stress of many years caught up with me finally.  I was
daunted.   I would not accept that I had to stay away from work for
several months.  I could only pray and that is what I did, more than
ever before.  

In times of illness, we are given the opportunity to reassess our lives,
our values and to refocus our priorities.  I realised I work much too
hard, creating stress to me and to those around me.  I had lost interest
in things I loved doing.  I couldn't make time for the theatre, opera,
ballet and concerts, for which I set aside a few evenings during
business travel particularly in the UK, USA, Australia and Russia during
the past 4 or 5 years.

I faced a very difficult, anxious time.  But I learned endurance,
patience and reliance on prayer, which brought me immeasurable relief
and consolation. I found remarkable courage; where it came from I am
unable to explain! I thank my family and friends who brought me comfort
and cheer throughout my illness. Now, I hope and pray that I may find
the strength and will power to follow the new lifestyle thrust on me by
my doctor.  I am working very hard at it.

When I reminisce over events of the past two years, I am not unhappy.
In my courageous effort to market my own brand of tea, I knew that I was
stepping into the territory of giants, never before treaded by little
men.  In countering the masterminds of big traders I faced tension and
stress that constantly pushed me to despair and into pondering if my
journey was worth it, after all.  But I took up every challenge however
painful or mean they seemed and I sought divine guidance to overcome
them.  All this took severe toll of my health.  Thank God I am fit and
well now!

As I progressed, I began to realise that, if Dilmah was successful in
its mission, it would pave the way for other tea and coffee growing
nations to follow its example and save their farmers from poverty and
hunger heaped on them by big traders.  That thought inspired me! It gave
me the strength, courage and confidence I needed.  If I quit I would
have betrayed poor farmers and I might have fallen prey to my predators!
. . . 

<http://www.bosweb.com.au/content/EB3TemplateImages/771/drinking%20tea.j
pg> 

. . . Dilmah is an example of truly ethical tea.  All the benefits of
value addition and marketing remain in our country to provide for
reinvestment in the industry and the welfare of our workers and their
families.  I appreciate the need to help our workers and the community.
The MJF Charitable Foundation goes well beyond earnings from Dilmah tea
in providing numerous benefits to our workers and the wider community.
Please visit our websites www.mjffoundation.org and www.dilmahtea.com
<http://www.dilmahtea.com/>   for more information on the family
philosophy.

Lovework

Ethical tea starts with an ethical man who puts his family before his
work and people before profits.  We can all learn a lot from Merrill J
Fernando's example.  Remember, always put your family first because
ethics are everything.

Yours for putting family first

Warwick Marsh
________________________________________ 

Warwick Marsh  has been married to Alison for 30 years. He is 
the father of five children, four boys and one girl, ranging in 
age from 25 years to 13 years.  Warwick is a musician, 
songwriter, producer and public speaker who likes to think he 
can still laugh at himself.

back to top 

 <http://www.bosweb.com.au/email_blast/templates/fathers/banner.jpg> 

Grandads

 

 <http://www.bosweb.com.au/content/EB3TemplateImages/771/fatman.gif> 

Men will spend their health getting wealth;

then gladly pay all they have earned

to get health back.

Mike Murdock

 

back to top 

 <http://www.bosweb.com.au/email_blast/templates/fathers/banner.jpg> 

Laughter

 

<http://www.bosweb.com.au/content/EB3TemplateImages/771/Spelling-Bee.jpg
> 

The Spell Checker 

Eye halve a spelling chequer 
It came with my pea sea 
It plainly marques four my revue 
Miss steaks eye kin knot sea. 
Eye strike a key and type a word 
And weight four it two say 
Weather eye am wrong oar write 
It shows me strait a weigh. 
As soon as a mist ache is maid 
It nose bee fore two long 
And eye can put the error rite 
Its rare lea ever wrong. 
Eye have run this poem threw it 
I am shore your pleased two no 
Its letter perfect awl the weigh 
My chequer tolled me sew. 

-Sauce unknown `

________________________________________

back to top 

 <http://www.bosweb.com.au/email_blast/templates/fathers/banner.jpg> 

Single Dads

 

Divorcing Dads Still Face Uphill
<http://www.bosweb.com.au/content/EB3TemplateImages/771/divorce-main.jpg
> Struggle

By John Hirst

The Australian

3 April 2006

Despite some legislative improvements, the family legal system might
still fail fathers and their children (again).

In June 2003 Prime Minister John Howard declared family law was not
working well because too many children were growing up without contact
with their fathers. The various men's groups around the country hoped
that finally they had an influential friend.

Last week, after three years of deliberations, the Government's
amendments to family law quietly passed through the Senate. For some
changes there was bipartisan support; to carry others the Government's
new majority in the upper house had to be called on. The men's groups
are disappointed, claiming the changes do not go far enough.

Whenever men's groups demand fathers should have more time with their
children after divorce, women's groups complain children will be exposed
to more violence.

The Government has attempted to solve this dilemma in gender politics by
declaring that there shall be two prime considerations in divorce
settlements: children should have meaningful contact with both parents
and children must be protected from physical and psychological harm.
Where these principles conflict, the court will decide.

Meaningful contact is not to mean seeing the children every second
weekend, which is the standard allowance to fathers at present. It may
mean equal time where that is feasible but at least it must include a
mix of weekends and weekdays so the parent can be involved in the
child's regular routine and parent and child can be together for
significant events in both their lives.

This seems like a great advance, but men's groups are worried because
these stipulations are recommendations only: in every case the
settlement has to be determined according to the best interests of the
child. And who decides that? The Family Court and the new family
relationships centres created by this legislation, which are to be the
first port of call when relationships break down and which are to assist
parties wherever possible to reach a settlement without recourse to the
court.

Men's groups are right to be suspicious about the Family Court. The last
great change to the law in 1995 was designed to involve both parents in
the lives of their children, but chief justice Alastair Nicholson, who
always resented the interference of parliament, declared that nothing
had changed. The court would consider anything that parliament proffered
but it would decide matters according to its own view.

Despite all the changes to the law, if the court's view remains that in
a standard case a child is better off seeing dad only every second
weekend it can still so rule. And once that is plain, mothers who want
to marginalise a child's father will refuse to be co-operative during
their obligatory stint at the relationship centres knowing their
intransigence will be upheld when their case has to be resolved by the
court.

I don't believe the court under its new chief Diana Bryant will be as
contemptuous of a clear message from the parliament as was her
predecessor. The court was itself very nearly marginalised in favour of
a new family tribunal during the Government's deliberations on changing
family law. If there is no substantial change, the court will come under
renewed attack.

The Government is investing large sums and high expectations in the new
family relationship centres. Their staff is meant to urge parents to
make settlements that will provide children with equal time or at least
substantial time with both parents. The men's groups fear the groups
likely to staff the new centres will be unsympathetic to fathers. One of
their spokespersons (a woman) speaks of the anti-male, lesbian element
that is strong in the social-work world and which may well colonise the
new centres. The composition and outlook of the centres need close
attention from the Government if it does not wish to see its efforts to
bring fathers back into children's lives undone.

Men's groups have been agitating for the law to remove from the court
the discretion to decide cases according to its view of the best
interests of the child. They want a presumption in favour of both
parents having the maximum time possible with the child, unless a case
can be made out against this arrangement.

This is the so-called rebuttable presumption in favour of joint custody.
Neither the Government nor the Opposition will support it. The argument
against it is that it is a "one-size-fits-all" solution, which patently
it is not since the presumption in every case could be rebutted to
varying degrees. It is a mechanism to force the court to a different
starting point in its deliberations. In the Senate only senator Steve
Fielding of Family First was prepared to support it. If the Government's
new measures don't make an appreciable difference the demand will
continue to be pushed.

That some men are violent to their ex-partners is accepted by all those
involved in the debate about family law. That some women are vengeful
towards their ex-partners is still not a truth universally acknowledged.
In the Senate, the Democrats, the Greens and the Labor Party opposed the
Government's plans to curb false allegations in divorce proceedings.

The Government had to use its numbers to pass measures that require
claims of apprehended violence to be reasonably based and for the court
to exact costs from those who knowingly make false allegations. The
ordinary bloke with few resources who finds himself falsely accused of
violence or worse by his ex-wife has the sympathy of only the Coalition
parties.

There was no dispute in parliament over what may be the most profound
changes in family law. The court is now free to set aside the rules of
evidence and act in an inquisitorial way, where judges take charge of
cases and stop them once they have a clear view of the problem on which
they are to adjudicate. If the judges rise to this opportunity they may
change their court into a brisk, no-nonsense, cheap tribunal which is
what it was originally meant to be.

__________________________________________________________

John Hirst, a historian at La Trobe University in Melbourne, is author
of Quarterly Essay No.17, Kangaroo Court: Family Law in Australia and,
most recently, Sense and Nonsense in Australian History (both Black Inc.
Books).

back to top 

 <http://www.bosweb.com.au/email_blast/templates/fathers/banner.jpg> 

All you need is Love

  

Happy Hubbies
<http://www.bosweb.com.au/content/EB3TemplateImages/771/happy%20couple.j
pg> 

Psychiatrist reveals how men's behaviour affects their marriages

By TONY LEWIS, Standard-Times correspondent

April 01, 2006

The book explains why the typical strategies are so unsuccessful with
men.

"You are OK. Men are OK. You do not have to discover your feminine side
in order to be a better husband," he writes.

The book is certainly user-friendly, with short, to-the-point sections,
anecdotes from clients, case histories, "To Do" lists, "Remember This"
paragraphs, and a generous tendency toward the humorous throughout.

Scott Haltzman, M.D., claims to be a happily married man. He'd better
be.

As the author of the recently published, "The Secrets of Happily Married
Men," Dr. Haltzman, a psychiatrist who practices in Fall River and in
other area locations, knows a good deal about what makes marriages tick,
and about what pulls them apart.

After years of listening to his clients in the office and to men who log

onto his Web site (www.secretsofmarriedmen.com
<http://www.secretsofmarriedmen.com/>  ), Dr. Haltzman developed a few
unique ideas about how male thinking and behavior affect relationships.

What he has to say is unusual in the first place because it's aimed at
men. "Women buy 80 to 90 percent of relationship books," he says, adding
that there isn't much out there that talks directly to men. "That's why
publishers were wary about the book; it took five years to get it in
print," he admits.

Now, however, even women are buying "The Secrets of Happily Married Men"
because, as Dr. Haltzman puts it, "the book explains why the typical
strategies are so unsuccessful with men."

It's the book's strategy, in fact, that really differentiates it from
most others that crowd the shelves in the self-help sections of
bookstores.

Although he's quick to say that some advice books out there contain
"pearls," most, he claims, "minimize the role played by the husband or
else put him down."

And that's because most approaches to marital problems, Dr. Haltzman
says, begin with the tacit assumption that women ought to define what
makes a good marriage.

"The Secrets of Happily Married Men," on the other hand, "elevates men"
and emphasizes that "men are capable and confident," different from
their partners, to be sure, but not somehow naturally deficient.

What men are, he writes early on in a burst of self-confessed political
incorrectness, is "intrinsically, basically, fundamentally different
from women." And that's just fine as far as Dr. Haltzman is concerned.

"You are OK. Men are OK. You do not have to discover your feminine side
in order to be a better husband," he writes.

You do need to commit yourself to the marriage, however, and to
understanding what the book's subtitle is all about: "Eight Ways to Win
Your Wife's Heart Forever."

Each of the "ways" is treated in a separate chapter, and each focuses on
the way typical male strengths can be brought to bear on marriage. The
first way, for example, "Make Your Marriage Your Job," argues that what
men do best at work can also work well at home, like focusing,
prioritizing, negotiating and compromising, following a step-by-step
approach, and so on. Other chapters, on learning to listen, knowing your
wife, and "understanding the truth about sex," for example, employ
similar arguments based on the strong points that men bring to marriage.

The author, who thinks that men tend to be "moralistic," says that "a
willingness to support your wife doesn't mean that you're selling your
morals down the river." That supportiveness is important, he emphasizes,
because "studies have shown that a woman needs to feel that she's being
heard."

It's true, of course, that so-called "masculinists" like the book, but
it's also true that some feminists have praised the merits of "The
Secrets of Happily Married Men." Perhaps that's because the book doesn't
take sides and is almost entirely nonjudgmental, Mr. Haltzman says.

"My only judgment in the book is that marriage is good," he says, and
that's because he views the decision to marry "as the best way to assure
a long, healthy, financially rewarding life that nurtures children and
reduces child poverty."

The book is certainly user-friendly, with short, to-the-point sections,
anecdotes from clients, case histories, "To Do" lists, "Remember This"
paragraphs, and a generous tendency toward the humorous throughout.

Then, too, although "The Secrets of Happily Married Men" is entirely
secular, Dr. Haltzman does allude to the importance of the spiritual and
is "open to what's worked for other men."

"You can either be right or married," he jokes, quoting a well-known
cliché about marriage, and he's forthright in confessing that his own
marriage of 18 years has had its own share of difficult moments.

But what he wants men to remember is that they and their wives "are
probably agreeing more than they know," he says.

"You have to sort out what's really important, and learn ways to
communicate what's important."

back to top 

 <http://www.bosweb.com.au/email_blast/templates/fathers/banner.jpg> 

Thought of the Week

 
<http://www.bosweb.com.au/content/EB3TemplateImages/771/couple%20hurting
%201.jpg> 

Beware,

Don't always be wishing for what you don't have.

For real life and real living 

are not related to how rich we are.

Jesus - Luke 12 v.15

back to top 

 <http://www.bosweb.com.au/email_blast/templates/fathers/banner.jpg> 

Special Feature

 
<http://www.bosweb.com.au/content/EB3TemplateImages/771/sick%20baby.jpg>
What Great Deeds We Can Do When We Love

Part 2

Andrew Bolt, Herald Sun, 10 March 2006

 

In Defiant Birth Melinda Tankard Reist presents the stories of women who
refused to kill the babies in their womb they were warned were damaged,
and gave birth months later to children of love. 

Some of those children were healthy in every way. Others were not, but
in Defiant Birth, Teresa Streckfuss, from country Victoria, tells why
she was still right not to let her third child be killed. 

She'd had an ultrasound at 18 weeks and remembers being sat down to hear
a doctor say: "There is a problem with the baby's skull." 

The boy she carried had anencephaly. He would die within days of birth,
or sooner. Would she abort him? 

"Through my tears I said, `No, we wouldn't do that.' 

"It was very clear to us. There was no choice other than to love our
child. There was no easy way out . . . Our baby would die, but it would
not be by our hand." 

This baby would be allowed to live before it died. 

Says Teresa: "`We made up a little baby announcement which said, Mark
and Teresa Streckfuss have been blessed with a new baby boy, Benedict
Oliver. He is due on the 17th of July, 2001. A precious brother for
Cecilia and Sebastian. Please pray for us as he has anencephaly and will
not be with us long. 

"We sent this out to family and friends in the month after diagnosis. It
was very important to me that Benedict was not forgotten." 

Benedict was born by caesarian section on Monday, 25 June, at 1.52pm,
and lived for 24 hours and 13 minutes. 

"I don't think I can possibly tell you how beautiful Benedict was, or
how sweet he smelled, or how much I wish those hours were frozen in
time. He was so alive! 

"He cried out, made facial expressions, wriggled. It was hard being
pinned down while they stitched me up I was so afraid he would die
before I could hold and see him properly." 

A priest tended to him, and then helped dad, Mark, take picture after
picture. 

"The time we had with him was so precious. We marvelled at how perfect
he was, his soft cheeks, his feet and hands, and his sweet little face.
I have never smelled such a sweet scent as the smell of his skin . . . 

"The theatre staff were wonderful ? some of them cried, some prayed,
some patted my head or my hands while Benedict was being born. I
remember the anaesthetist saying, `He's a little saint already now,
isn't he? He's been baptised and confirmed ? he's perfect." 

Benedict had lots of visitors. He met his sister and brother, Cecilia
and Sebastian, and his grandparents, aunties, uncles, cousins and
godmother. 

"After about 10pm we had him to ourselves. We were so very, very tired,
but we didn't want to sleep; we didn't want to miss what time we had
left with him. We both sang to him and Mark read to him, but mainly we
just held him and loved him." By morning Benedict started to tremble
with seizures. At 2.05pm he gently died. 

Cries Teresa: "You may wonder at me referring to Benedict as beautiful
and perfect when he had anencephaly, which is an obvious physical
defect, but he was beautiful and perfect and every cute baby description
you could think of - he was my son! 

"I don't love Cecilia and Sebastian because they're healthy; I love them
because they are my children. I miss him so much . . ." 

Teresa says this was both the most painful experience she's endured, and
probably the most beautiful. 

"Benedict spent his whole life in the arms of people who loved him; who
could ask for a better life?" 

It really is about love, isn't it? Not perfection. Love.

Andrew concluded by giving details of the book...

He has a forum - if you would like to add comments...

http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,18415068%255E2
5717,00.html
<http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,18415068%255E
25717,00.html>  

back to top 

 <http://www.bosweb.com.au/email_blast/templates/fathers/banner.jpg> 

News & Info

 

<http://www.bosweb.com.au/content/EB3TemplateImages/771/Lawyer%20reading
.jpg> 

Lawyers Doubtful of Real Change

By Tony Miller

The Attorney-General announces the most significant changes to the
Family Law Act in 30 years. I saw a ray of light when it was announced.
Some Fatherhood groups support the changes, some do not, in that they
believe they still do not go far enough. I have spoken to a lot of
Family Law Practitioners over the past weeks and even as of today most
are saying "same old, same old". Nothing has changed, just the wording.
It's a joke, one commented to me. If this is how the lawyers of this
country view the new legislation then what hope do we have?    Education
of the changes for our Family Law Practitioners is the only answer, or
at the least, a start.

Dads in Distress Inc support the changes but also believe this is just
the first step in delivering dads back to their children. The holy grail
of a Rebuttable Presumption of Equal Time will no doubt continue to be
in the back of everyone's mind who supports a child's right to BOTH
parents. As I see it, this is just the first step to what is inevitable
as has been proved in many countries around the world. The Fatherhood
Movement doesn't stop here; it will continue to gain support and
momentum all over the world.

So to the many fathers, mothers, grandparents, supporters, politicians,
The SPCA, The Lone Fathers Association, Fathers4Equality, Fatherhood
Foundation, Non-Custodial Parents Party, Dads on The Air and with
special mention of Senator Fielding, Alby Schultz MP, Kay Hull MP and
Ken Ticehurst MP and the many groups and individuals who have braved the
thought of creating a fairer more equitable solution to the
Fatherlessness Crisis that is pervading our society, I salute you, I
honour you. Thank you from all the 'dids' out there and thank you from
our children.

Dads in Distress Inc will continue to save lives. That's our core
business. Not politics. We will continue to be the hospital ship of the
Fatherhood Movement helping dads to navigate the future by understanding
their past, by giving them a safe place to be heard and to see light
where there was darkness. We value our fathers and we will continue to
do so. We will monitor the new legislation as it reaches the Courts and
report back to you and Government as to how effective it is. Hold your
head up, you have fought a long hard fight unfunded against a funded
opposition. You can feel proud that you have helped take this step to
end the Fatherlessness Crisis in this country. This is not the end, this
is just the beginning.........

Tony Miller dids

[email-masked] <mailto:[email-masked]>    

www.dadsindistress.asn.au <http://www.dadsindistress.asn.au/>  

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Celebrate Love Seminars

A two day seminar for married couples exploring spirituality and
sexuality in the Catholic context. 

2006

Apr 29 & 30 - Melbourne, VIC

May 13 & 14 - London, UK

May 20 & 21 - Pt Macquarie, NSW

May 20 & 21 - Perth, WA

July 1 & 2 - Brisbane, QLD

Aug 5 & 6 - Adelaide, SA

Aug 5 & 6 - Gold Coast, QLD

Sep 9 & 10 - Noosa, QLD

Sep TBA - Mount Isa, QLD

Also available in ?split weekend? format over two Sundays (Sydney only)

Day 1: May 21, May 27(Sat), Jun 4

Day 2: May 28, Jun 18, Jun 25

Other Dates Yet to be Confirmed

NSW: Kellyville, Griffith, Ballina

www.CelebrateLove.com.au <http://www.celebratelove.com.au/>  

________________________________________________________

Howard Defends
<http://www.bosweb.com.au/content/EB3TemplateImages/771/john_howard%20ma
rriage.jpg> 
Marriage again

read more

http://www.news.com.au/story/
0,10117,18688773-2,00.html
<http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,18688773-2,00.html> 

_____________________________________

02 April 2006 

The Mercury 

Family balancing act 

SHARED parenting is always a juggling act and while Ellie Taylor admits
it's easy to drop the ball, she's also one of the lucky ones. The New
Town mum of three and her two ex-partners have negotiated a happy and
healthy shared parenting arrangement surviving 15 years, a move
interstate and two cranky toddlers. "Keeping communication open and
being flexible is the key to a happy situation," she said. 

Read more

http://www.dadsindistress.asn.au/news403.html
<http://www.dadsindistress.asn.au/news403.html>    

Book Tip - Real Dads

The Very Personal Experience of Fatherhood

Author: Holland, Angus

Who do Dads turn to when there's no mothers' group equivalent for them?
In Real Dads, fathers discuss candidly what it means to be a modern
father, changes in their relationships with their partners, juggling
work and family commitments and bonding with their child.

Read more

http://www.dadsindistress.asn.au/booktip_realdads.html
<http://www.dadsindistress.asn.au/booktip_realdads.html>  

29 March 2006 

The American Daily (USA) 

Shared Parenting Bill Would Help New York's Children of Divorce 

In the wake of the New York Matrimonial Commission's recommendation that
the state embrace no fault divorce, the Assembly's Children & Families
Committee will soon consider a family law bill which will help reduce
post-divorce conflict and greatly improve the lives of New York's
children of divorce. Three dozen members of the Assembly have signed on
as sponsors or co-sponsors of A330. The bill would protect the loving
bonds children share with both parents by establishing joint custody as
the preferred parenting arrangement after divorce. 

Read more

http://www.dadsindistress.asn.au/news400.html
<http://www.dadsindistress.asn.au/news400.html>    

29 March 2006 

AccessNorthGa.com  (USA)  

Divorce Through the Eyes of Adolescents 

As if being on the roller coaster of adolescence isn't tough enough,
some youth also experience the aftermath of divorce. Parents divorce
each other, but children often feel the pain more than parents realize.
Children may be resilient with most life events but divorce requires
more education and support than many other events. 

Read more

http://www.dadsindistress.asn.au/news394.html
<http://www.dadsindistress.asn.au/news394.html>    

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

Letters

Dear Fatherhood Foundation

Just read your fathers on line newsletter called Celebrating Manhood.
Often don't have the time to read them all, but the ones I do are always
top value!! You're doing a great job, changing the nation. It feels
slow, and sometimes impossible but He who can do all things is working
powerfully through you!. 

Keep it up mate.  

Ron Brookman

 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

Dear Fatherhood Foundation

Here is a copy of a letter I sent to Senator Marshall re Family Law
Reform.

Dear Senator Marshall, I appreciate you replying (much faster than many
of your colleagues from both sides!)

I've read your letter.  The current situation as I understand it is that
the family court is 'recommended' to consider shared parenting.

The reality is that in the overwhelming number of cases, custody goes to
the woman (i.e. the court chooses to ignore the recommendation).

Nothing in your letter gave me any hope that if Labor were in power you
would do anything to change the situation.

The only way to get the family court to actually consider shared
parenting as often as they should, is to put a rebuttable presumption of
shared parenting into the legislation, otherwise the current
(diabolically discriminatory) situation will just continue and the court
will continue to ignore that 'recommendation'.

Please enlighten me if there was something in your letter that I
missed...

Malcolm Pryor.

P.S.  By the way, you said that this was a one size fits all solution.
That's what rebuttable means - shared parenting would be open
tochallenge, just that it would be the legislated presumption.

P.S.  I am very happily (first) married with two fabulous kids, but I
write on behalf of male friends of mine who have had their families
taken from them by the court.  Now there's a STOLEN GENERATION!

back to top 

 <http://www.bosweb.com.au/email_blast/templates/fathers/banner.jpg> 

Dad's Prayer

 
<http://www.bosweb.com.au/content/EB3TemplateImages/771/Man%20counting%2
0money.jpg> 

Dear God

Help me share my struggles with others

so they can know that I am not perfect, but human.

Help me be brave enough to put my family first

and not accept the lie that my life
is measured by my wealth

and the accumulation of material goods.

Fill me with your Spirit so that I might truly understand 

the things that really matter in my life.

back to top 

 <http://www.bosweb.com.au/email_blast/templates/fathers/banner.jpg> 

About Us

Mission Statement & Help Us!

 
<http://www.bosweb.com.au/email_blast/client_images/fathers_issue163-10t
h%20October,2005_Foundation%20Logo%20180.jpg> 
Mission Statement 

The Fatherhood Foundation is a charitable, non profit incorporated
association with a goal to inspire men to a greater level of excellence
as fathers, by encouraging and educating them, thereby renewing and
empowering families.

Click here for more information about us
<http://www.bosweb.com.au/email_blast/rr.asp?s=3393&v=300&c=21&u=http://
www.ausheart.com.au/fathers/about/index.html>  

Help Us!

The Fatherhood Foundation believes that the key to life is giving.
That's why this newsletter is given freely without expectation.  Life is
also about relationships.  That's what being a good father is all about,
developing relationships with your loved ones.
 
If you would like to give financially to the Fatherhood Foundation,
please mail your cheque or money order to:
Fatherhood Foundation
PO Box 440
WOLLONGONG  NSW  2520
AUSTRALIA

You have received the fathersonline.org newsletter because you have
subscribed, or you have been subscribed by a friend.  If you do not wish
to receive future emails, please click the UNSUBSCRIBE button below or
send an email to [email-masked] <mailto:[email-masked]>
with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the subject heading.

back to top 

	Click Here to Unsubscribe
<http://emailblast.bosweb.com.au/bwEMailBlast/optout/?CampaignID=801&Con
tactID=90915>