Duplicitous Dunne’s Smoke and Mirrors
The United Future (UF) policy is in some ways positive. Legal recognition of the concept of a “presumption of shared parenting” after separation is a step forward. Acknowledgement is welcome of the growing research showing that fatherlessness is perpetuated through current family law but is very bad for children. Those who have slaved away for years in he men’s and fathers’ movement need to pat themselves on the back because some of their efforts have trickled in to wider awareness.
However, published details so far show UF is hardly moving in the direction that fathers know will be better for children and for society.
For example, the “shared parenting” proposal does not equate to a presumption of equal shared care as called for by fathers’ groups. (In fact, Judy Turner gets it quite wrong when she claims that “sole custody” is granted. The concept of “custody” is no longer a part of the law and at present both parents remain guardians regardless of the amount of time the child spends between them. The current presumption is already shared care but “primary day-to-day care” is usually awarded to the mother and fathers are otherwise too readily restricted from children’s lives.) Without specifying equal share care, the UF policy is likely to mean, even when there are no allegations of risk, that mum gets 70% and Dad 30%, still enabling mum to be the only parent receiving the DPB and all child tax. Little different from the present situation.
Even more importantly, it’s easy for United Future to add “unless there are good reasons why it should not be”, without specifying the reasons that might be seen as sufficient to disallow shared care. The Republic of NZ Party policy specifies there should be limited grounds and these should impose high goal posts. For example, allegations of violence or other behaviour presenting an unacceptable risk will need to be recent, significant and proven beyond reasonable doubt before they can be allowed to influence this decision. Even serious parental mental illness or addiction will need to be shown to present an actual and serious risk if it is to reduce the time that parent has with the children. The Republicans believe that children need to be protected from injury and abuse, but that the benefits of child-parent bonding outweigh most parental imperfections. The current Kangaroo Court damages parent-child relationships as a default option when allegations are uttered, and is much more ready to accept what women allege and to disregard men’s accounts in line with decades of feminist propaganda. Judy Turner’s policy shows no awareness of what the current problems really are, and without specifying the grounds on which shared care could be disallowed is unlikely to lead to much change.
Similarly, Turner’s call for the Family Court to be allowed to order DNA paternity tests falls well short of the fathers’ demands that DNA testing occur either routinely for all children or on the request of either parent. Giving the Family Court the right to order a test may make little difference if that Court is left to decide whether it will or won’t make such orders, because we know whose wishes the Court will usually pamper and it won’t be the father’s. A law that obliged the Court to order a DNA test on application by either parent would show some real commitment to fathers’ concerns; Turner’s policy does not.
The third policy is even more mealy-mouthed. Calling for a “review” of the child support system could mean anything. In his next breath Duplicitous Dunne happily uses the term “deadbeat dads” (ignoring the fact that liable mothers are more likely than fathers to default), usually fails to mention that child support debt is primarily made up of vicious administrative penalties, and has recently been responsible for changes that allow agents of the state to share more information about fathers and to treat them as criminals without trial at our borders. Any proposed review organized by Dunne seems unlikely to be aimed at improving fathers’ ability to be involved meaningfully in their children’s lives. Indeed, there is no mention of that aim at all by Dunne. Instead, he wants to make the scheme “responsive” to such things as the income levels of both parents and the “costs of raising children”. This is just as likely to make things worse for fathers.
Adding a list of consequences of father absence gives the impression that the policies are aimed at increasing fathers’ roles and becoming fairer to fathers, but this is misleading. The policies are unlikely to achieve those outcomes and don’t actually seem to be designed to do so.
More significantly, no mention is made of keeping families together in the first place. No mention is made of the importance of changing the DPB system in order to stop it encouraging family break-up and fatherless pregnancies. No mention is made of preventing the government from redefining terms such as “family” and “marriage” to mean any group of people who happen to cohabit for a while.
Turner’s claim that her party is “the only party working to make sure children continue to enjoy the support and care of their entire family” is arrogant and wrong. The policies announced are little more than smoke and mirrors and go nowhere near what has to be done to bring about that claimed goal. The Republic of New Zealand Party however is committed to that goal and unlike the Dunne party has policies capable of fulfilling it.
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THE COMIC SPEAKS.. (Mac Boshier gives us something to laugh about..)
THE POINT IS PEOPLE THAT FAMILY COURTS ARE NOT NECESSARY, THEY BREED VIOLENCE BY THEIR MERE EXISTENCE.. (Mac Boshier has just revealed as such…)
Bloodshed fears over weapons in courts
5:00AM Friday August 22, 2008
By Andrew Koubaridis
One week’s worth of weapons seized at the Manukau District Court. Photo / Supplied
Thousands of weapons are being seized at New Zealand courts every year and a senior judge is warning that security needs to be strengthened to “prevent bloodshed”.
In just one week at the Manukau District Court, in March this year, staff seized dozens of weapons including a gun, knuckleduster and several long-bladed knives.
Principal Family Court Judge Peter Boshier told a family violence conference in Napier yesterday that security in New Zealand courts was “woefully inadequate” when compared with those overseas.
BAN THE AFFIDAVIT AND YOU MAY EFFECTIVELY CLOSE DOWN THE FAMILY COURT BREEDING PROGRAMME FOR VIOLENCE
Bloodshed fears over weapons in courts, YEAH RIGHT …
This link will show you the people who are most valuable to New Zealand society, shame on the Family Court system, FAMILY COURT HAS NO VALUE TO NEW ZEALAND SOCIETY WHEN OTHERS MUST SUFFER…
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10528642&ref=rss
Great reporting by Michelle Coursey (NZ Herald)
ED clinical director Dr Tim Parke, 45, who has run this section of the hospital for the past three years.
“It’s important to get across that we do take this seriously,” he explains.
“People [medical staff] don’t just sit about, we really do try… and if we don’t mop up a lot of this stuff, then nobody does, really.”
The family court in comparison is no better than a jewish concentration camp, as it has all the ill intended evil’s that any failed experiment may exhibit..
ORIGIN OF THE PROTECTION ORDER – without trial or judicial process -
The second Nazi concentration camps were greatly expanded in Germany after the Reichstag fire in 1933, and were intended to hold political prisoners and opponents of the regime. They grew rapidly through the 1930s as political opponents and many other groups of people were incarcerated without trial or judicial process.
Allan. Thanks for your evaluation of the Parental Hearing Programme. We need to remember that positive steps are possible and that many such steps may even lead to a system that most agree is good.
However, the proof of the pudding is in the tasting. Positive spin is plentiful when it comes to the Family Court, while the truth of its operation is often tantamount to child abuse.
I’m not sure there is any good system that is based on lawyers (this includes judges) making decisions about children’s “best interests”. I don’t believe lawyers have any place to be doing so; it’s undeserved arrogance and patronization on their part.
Bull, sadly I think your Nazi analogy is all too accurate when it comes to family law and the Courts established to forward it. There has been a constant abandonment of those fundamental principles of justice required for a fair and just society. The abuse and harm caused through these laws is not measured; instead, propaganda machines are established to hide the atrocities and to manufacture further justification for even greater departures from justice.
Right On Brother !!!
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great post hope to see some additional comments here…