Ironically, this week, False Allegation Awareness week, sees changes to the Australian Family Law Act come into effect. For the first time in Australian history these amendments were passed through parliament without bipartisan political support, and then only after a late night stifling of debate in the Senate. These changes in effect give unsubstantiated allegations of family violence primacy above the rights of the child to an ongoing and meaningful relationship with both parents whilst effectively removing legislated penalties for perjury. [1]
In media announcements heralding the legislations coming into effect Labor’s Attorney General Nicola Roxon blatantly lied to the public by claiming “it will remain a criminal offence to make false allegations of violence during court proceedings.”[2] The truth is the only way any women can be punished under the new legislation is by an award of costs against her, this is not a “criminal offence” at all, simply an administrative slap on the wrist, which has rarely if ever been imposed. Such a penalty could only be awarded in the event of a “contravention application” by the father, something advised against by family law practitioners on the basis of it’s negligible chance of being successful and the potential for inflaming an already high conflict situation to the detriment of their prospects of seeing their children.
Of course feminist bloggers have had a field day announcing how beneficial such changes will be in protecting women and children from men’s violence, whilst parading the standard list of false DV Statistics. [3]
Even before the changes became law, in recent weeks we have seen a flurry of emotive reporting from the Australian gynocentric feminist controlled mainstream media concerning a high profile international child abduction case.
Briefly for those who don’t know of the case, a young Australian women moved to Italy to study languages met her Italian beau, married and had 4 children all girls. In 2008 they separated and the Italian court granted shared custody with the father having access one afternoon per week and some weekends. In 2010 the children and mother travelled to Australia ostensibly for a holiday but never returned to Italy and the fathers contact even by phone has been stonewalled ever since.
These events are by definition International Child Abduction and after 2 years of lobbying by the father for the children’s return to Italy the Australian Family court did as it is obliged to under international conventions and ordered the children’s return. The mother then obstructed the execution of this lawful order by sending the children into hiding committing second criminal act.
Next came the leveling of unsubstantiated allegations of abuse against the father and the staging a media circus including airing a contrived obviously edited video on national TV of the children pleading to live with the mother in Australia. Legal haggling continued with the focus being shifted to the “right’s of the children” to determine their futures and the matter referred to the High Court of Australia. It has yet to be resolved.
However in the time since the referral to the high court was made, the Italian father who remains in Australia has been granted supervised visitation with his children, the conduct of such visits rather than showing 4 girls afraid of their father, are testimony to a wholesome and loving relationship.
What should happen of course is that the criminal, in this case the mother, should be brought before the courts and treated in exactly the same way a father who abducted his children and breached court orders would be. Instead appeals were made to local members of parliament and senior politicians including the prime minister to intervene, because of overwhelming public support for the girls and their mother.
Voices of reason however are beginning to appear amongst all the mother-centric emotive trash with the recent article by Miranda Divine: “Tug-of-war custody battle is the mother of all issues.” Miranda logically contrasts the criminality of the mother versus the law-abiding actions of the father. [4] Robert Franklin of Fathers and Families has also penned a balanced commentary[5] on the situation.
Meanwhile a federal magistrate has sent a pathetic guilt ridden letter to 2 children he wrongly ordered be alienated from their father even thought he knew the mothers accusations against the father were false.[6]
How much worse do things have to become before an ignorant public realizes the damage the corrupt family law system is doing to families and children? Time will tell but the floodgates are now open for a free for all of false allegations. The dodgy lawyers and feminist abuse industry workers are no doubt rubbing their hands with glee.
