Schools of Fish

With special guest:

• Alan Sampson

Schools of Fish won the 2015 Finch Memoir Prize for author Alan Sampson, a Queenslander, who by telling us about his own experiences lets us find out much about the importance of a father’s relationship with his children. A big part of the story relates to Alan’s role as Principal at the well-known Cavendish Road State High School in Brisbane. There are times at school when personal courage is required as well as unshakable integrity if favourable results are to be achieved.

At the same time as we get this fascinating look into the real world of a school Principal we get a growing realisation that there were issues on the home front with Alan’s youngest child and these could not be ignored. Alan had to find out if his strict authoritarian approach, first taught to him by his own father, and applied in his school roles will also work at home with his youngest child who is definitely different.

Listen Now (MP3)

Click to read more ...

Help Change the Debate

With special guest:

• Bettina Arndt

When Bettina Arndt talked about sex on Australian national television and radio it was relatively easy to get the truth out in an area that tends to be covered up.

But our guest today must sometimes feel like a voice crying in the wilderness when she turns her attention to the domestic violence industry. It is hard to get the real story out when institutions such as the ABC and the daily newspapers generally contribute to the beat-up regarding domestic violence in our community.

Listen Now (MP3)

Click to read more ...

Is There Anything Good About Men?

With special guest:

• Prof Roy F. Baumeister

Something we have always wanted to know but never been game to ask.

This book’s title Is There Anything Good About Men? How Cultures Flourish by Exploiting Men leads on to a whole range of surprises. We often accept without questioning that women are better networkers than men and that women are better at multi-tasking but is this supported in the research? At a practical level will women succeed in the current push for much more representation on the Boards of major companies?

Professor Roy Baumeister has examined human behaviour as our culture developed. This culture brings humans enormous advantages not available to other primates. You just have to think of us being able to shop at supermarkets, sleep in a warm bed every night and being able to find out on our computers everything ever learned in human history.

Listen Now (MP3)

Click to read more ...

The other glass ceiling: fathers stepping up, mothers letting go

With special guest:

• Charles Areni

In the news lately there have been frequent references to pay differentials between males and females. This is often put down to the different opportunities available in the workplace because of gender roles that are a hangover from a less-enlightened past. But what about the denial of opportunities to look after the children and get involved in other areas around the home? In brief, Mums have too many roles, Dads have too few.

Listen Now (MP3)

Click to read more ...

Still a Pygmy

With special guest:

• Isaac Bacirongo

When you are born and raised in Australia you know little about life as a refugee despite it being a frequent topic for conversation and opinion. Most of us have never spoken to a refugee.

Our guest today is Isaac Bacirongo who arrived in Sydney in 2003 with his wife and ten children as refugees after surviving the effects of Rwanda’s civil war in his own country, Congo.

Listen Now (MP3)

Click to read more ...

Schools of Fish

With special guest:

• Alan Sampson

Schools of Fish won the 2015 Finch Memoir Prize for author Alan Sampson, a Queenslander, who by telling us about his own experiences lets us find out much about the importance of a father’s relationship with his children. A big part of the story relates to Alan’s role as Principal at the well-known Cavendish Road State High School in Brisbane. There are times at school when personal courage is required as well as unshakable integrity if favourable results are to be achieved.

Listen Now (MP3)

Click to read more ...

CAFÉ (Canadian Association for Equality)

With special guest:

• Justin Trottier

It may come as a surprise to many of our listeners that many of the problems we face in Australia relating to equality as it applies to all men, women, girls and boys are similar in a distant part of the world, namely Canada.

A hotbed of activity in Toronto Canada is CAFÉ so we speak to Justin Trottier who is the Founder and Board Member of that association about what is being done over there while we look for lessons on improvements everywhere.

Listen Now (MP3)

Click to read more ...

Australia's First Peoples

With special guest:

• Jeff McMullen

For National Close the Gap Day we speak to Jeff McMullen.

Jeff McMullen is a household name in Australia with a major presence as a recognised international current affairs journalist. Throughout his distinguished 50 year career our guest today has written filmed and campaigned around the world to improve the health, education and human rights of Indigenous people.

Listen Now (MP3)

Click to read more ...

The other glass ceiling: fathers stepping up, mothers letting go

With special guest

• Charles Areni

In the news lately there have been frequent references to pay differentials between males and females. This is often put down to the different opportunities available in the workplace because of gender roles that are a hangover from a less-enlightened past. But what about the denial of opportunities to look after the children and get involved in other areas around the home? In brief, Mums have too many roles, Dads have too few.

Listen Now (MP3)

Click to read more ...

Breaking the Silence on Male Victims of Domestic Violence

With special guests:

• Dr Elizabeth Celi
• Emily Tilbrook

In the wake of White Ribbon Day 2011 and the recent amendments to the Family Law Act relating to domestic violence our show today presents an opportunity to discover the real story.

We speak first to Dr Elizabeth Celi an internationally recognised expert in the field of men’s health.

Listen Now (MP3)

Click to read more ...

What Our Attorney General Doesn't Want You To Know

With special guests:

• Toni McLean and
• Dr. Kim Halford.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Editor

Listen Now (MP3)

Click to read more ...

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.

Listen Now (MP3)

Click to read more ...

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. 

Listen Now (MP3)

Click to read more ...

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.  

Listen Now (MP3)

Click to read more ...

Jailed For Trying To Be a Dad

With special guests:

• “Rick”
  

Today we play part 1 of an in-depth 2 part interview with a father who has been jailed several times for such dangerous crimes as sending a birthday card to his daughter and for daring to watch his son play school sport.   

Rick, not his real name for legal reasons, joins us to tell us his story in the hope it will alert people, as to how easy it is to spiral into an impossible situation which severely punishes you for daring to attempt to remain in your children’s lives.    

This fathers’ plight clearly exemplifies everything that is wrong with the worldwide family justice system, now a multi billion dollar industry of which the symbolic head is the Family Court.     

We sincerely hope that this father’s experience is another wake-up call to all those mothers and fathers who think this could never happen to them.

We hope everyone seriously re-assess their perceived legal rights as a parent, because the truth is you have none. I repeat Parents do not have legal parenting rights.

Unfortunately the mistaken believe in these perceived rights, cause many parents to seek justice in a family justice system which does not offer due process of law and is more interested in serving the economic well-being of thousands of meddling bureaucrats. A corrupt system that has now grown into a multi billion dollar worldwide industry.

Unless you have made a pre-emptive first strike or have a million dollars to spare, the Family Court will do nothing for you except sever your relationship with your children and confiscate your family wealth, thereby stealing your kids’ inheritance. It is a social engineering Hell Hole to be avoided at all cost.

Ask anyone who has been there, they will all tell you the end result will leave you emotionally and economically destitute. The stealing of children is a crime against humanity and fighting this crime in the family courts will only make your situation impossible. If you decide to go this way and persist in seeking equality, justice and your human rights, it will cause you to spiral into the devastating situation this dad finds himself in. 

Listen Now (MP3)

Click to read more ...

Managony

With special guests: 

• David ‘Smiley’ Byrnes  and

• Ian Purdie.  

Dads on the air has witnessed the slow emergence over the last two years of the album Managony by Horizon Shine. It is a collection of songs written specifically for DOTA, dealing with issues that have featured on the program relating to fathers’ experiences during and around the subject of divorce. The songs were written, recorded and produced by David “Smiley” Byrnes and DOTA’s Ian Purdie who has been a presenter on the show for the last 4 years. Today’s program features Ian Purdie and Smiley and most of the other musicians they co-opted to help create Managony, as well as the songs and some insights into their composition and the recording process. The album is available through this website for $20. 

Listen Now (MP3)

Click to read more ...

Threats To The Family

With special guests:

• Barry Maley   
  

• Dr Elizabeth Celi and

• Sue Price.  

We start the program interviewing Barry Maley, who is a Senior Fellow at the Centre for Independent Studies in Sydney. Barry has released a report Family on the Edge – Stability and Fertility in Prosperity and Recession in which there are surprising findings leading to some major recommendations. Birth rates have been studied between a low point of 2001 and a recent high point of 1.93 per woman in 2008. The increase is strongly associated with the rising prosperity of that period.  With the financial threats and the continuing prevalence of children bei ng born to single mothers Barry argues for a change in family law and policies to encourage family stability. This would be a major factor in being able to sustain the buoyant birth rate.

Our second interview is with Dr Elizabeth Celi, well known Psychologist and social commentator who in the course of her work in mental health has encountered examples of domestic abuse which are sometimes too subtle to affect our sensibility. Elizabeth discusses recent television advertisements that would cause immediate offence if a female character were to be substituted for the male character in the script. We also talk about communication strategies and ways that can improve relationships and mental health.

Our final interview is with Sue Price from the Men’s Rights Agency. Sue has been conducting a survey on the Family Relationship Centres and we discuss progress with the survey. One of the problems that has been identified so far is with regard to a particular psychological theory that may be imposed by the Centres. We might have expected that the Centres would use the Government money to mediate and listen to the parties rather than impose a particular theoretical approach on the parties in dispute.

In coming weeks we will be presenting interviews obtained at the National Men’s Health Gathering held in Newcastle last week, at which Dads on the Air was represented by Peter van de Voorde and Greg Andresen.

Listen Now (MP3)

Click to read more ...

Save the Males

With Special Guests:

• Kathleen Parker and
  
• Peter Burns

Author Kathleen Parker has created a furore around the world with her new book Save The Males. Don’t miss this fascinating interview. So disenfranchised have men become, that only a woman can state the bleeding obvious, that the extreme sexism of gender feminism has done a great deal of harm to men, women, children, and society as a whole.

One person who knows all about the brutality of the modern state is Peter Burns, one of the leading members of the fathers’ rights movement in NZ, he hosts a very successful website http://dad4justice.blogspot.com/ where he dispenses a wealth of information from around the world to do with fatherhood issues.

Listen Now (MP3)

Click to read more ...

Social Justice: Think Twice

With Special Guests:

• Angela Conway
• Toni McLean
• Richar’ Farr
• John Flanagan.

The Australian Family Association is campaigning against the proposed changes to NSW legislation that would remove the word ‘father’ from birth certificates and get rid of the term ‘paternity leave’. We are pleased to have their spokeswoman Angela Conway on the program. “We oppose the change, it is part of the national and international picture of eroding the traditional family and the concept of a natural parent,” she said. “The social science evidence is pointing us in the other direction; that natural parents, both mothers and fathers, are vital to their children.

We are also delighted to have domestic violence counsellor and expert Toni McLean on the show. She has had the courage and integrity to genuinely think outside the square when it comes to violent couples and the best way to promote healthy relationships. Together with supportive and experienced group facilitators, her Think Twice program offers a complete range of options for individuals and couples experiencing difficulty in their relationships from normal conflict through to all forms of abuse, as well as physical violence.

We close the show with the ever entertaining Richar’ Farr, a leading figurehead in the international fatherhood movement. He is the founder of KRights Radio and the nationally syndicated program The Message. Richar’ describes his new internet radio station as “a town hall meeting on radio.” He calls it Kids’ Rights Radio - KRights for short. The unique station began its unusual and compelling broadcast on Aug 1, 2004, and is now on the air 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

We also talk with John Flanagan about the upcoming Dads4Kids Rally at NSW Parliament House to protest the removal of the word ‘father’ from birth certificates.

Listen Now (MP3)

Click to read more ...

Exploding Gender Myths

With Special Guests:

• Professor Mark Wooden
• Warwick Marsh and
• Professor Richard B. Felson.

Prof Mark Wooden, social researcher at the University of Melbourne, is a very courageous man. Last week he was the only male taking part in a National Press Club panel discussion on the gender pay gap. Faced with a mostly female audience, he dared to challenge the myth that the pay gap between men and women in Australia is mainly due to discrimination, instead suggesting that it has “got a lot to do with the fact that women are not prepared to work longer hours.”

Other widespread myths concern the issue of domestic violence. One of them is that husbands engage in more marital violence than wives because they are more controlling. The other is that societal norms permit violence within marriage and that gender roles encourage violence by males moreso than females. Richard B. Felson, Professor of Crime, Law, Justice and Sociology at the Pennsylvania State University in the US, has published extensive research that challenges both of these myths.

Also on today’s show we speak to Warwick Marsh from the Fatherhood Foundation about the proposed laws in NSW that will remove the word ‘father’ from birth certifcates and consign the term ‘paternity leave’ to the dustbin of history.

Listen Now (MP3)

Click to read more ...