The Broadcasting Standards Authority today released a decision upholding a complaint from Peter Ellis about an interview conducted on National Radio’s Nine to Noon programme in August 2003.

The BSA ordered Radio New Zealand to pay $5,300 legal costs to the complainant, to broadcast an apology on Nine to Noon, to publish a summary of the decision in the four major metropolitan daily newspapers, and to pay the maximum level of costs to the Crown of $5,000.

During the broadcast an anonymous mother and son were interviewed. They made new, unspecified allegations concerning Mr Ellis and the Christchurch Civic Creche in 1985, which had not been part of the court proceedings concerning the Creche.

The BSA ruled that the broadcast seriously breached standards of fairness and balance. It noted that Mr Ellis was being anonymously accused of criminal but unspecified offending of a very serious kind. Mr Ellis had previously declined an invitation to participate in a ‘sympathetic’ interview. He had not been made aware of the new allegations before they were broadcast. Even so the allegations were so vague they would have been impossible to defend.

With regard to balance, the BSA noted that the allegations made by the interviewees were neither substantiated nor critically examined by the broadcaster. In any case the nature and type of allegations would have made balance very difficult to achieve.

In its decision, the BSA said: “Mr Ellis has been convicted of and has served a prison sentence for sexual offences…. He is nonetheless a citizen of this country and, like all other citizens, is entitled to be treated justly and fairly. The Authority notes its deep concern at what amounted to a serious disregard for Mr Ellis’s rights.”

Other possible penalties able to be imposed by the BSA include requiring the broadcaster to cease broadcasting for a period. The BSA did not invoke this option as it did not see an overriding merit in disadvantaging the programme’s usual audience. As Radio New Zealand is a non-commercial broadcaster the BSA could not impose the other major penalty (previously imposed on other broadcasters), that of requiring the broadcaster to cease broadcasting advertising for a period.

A copy of the decision is available here. In line with its usual policy, the BSA will not be making any further comment.

Maharey defends penalty on solo mums

Media Release

10 September 2004

Jim Nicolle
NZ Child Support Reform Network

DPB recovery is not Child Support

“Given the fundamental flaws of the Child Support Act 1991, it is not surprising that mothers refuse to lodge a so call Child Support application,” commented Jim Nicolle, spokesperson for the New Zealand Child Support Reform Network.

“Let’s call a spade a spade. The Child Support Act 1991 is focused on collecting money, not on supporting our children, and is nothing more than a tax applied to ‘liable’ parents. The bulk of this child tax is extracted to the consolidated fund to ‘recover’ the DPB.

“A parent can be paying thousands of dollars a year in compulsory assessment, via this unfair and unreasonable regime, knowing that it never reaches their children.

“Labour should be honest and admit that this legislation is failing our children, depriving them of a financial future, and placing them at risk that can be avoided, ” Nicolle stated.

“Parents do not object to supporting their children, they do object to being viewed as working chequebooks by the Labour Government. Its time this dated and fundamentally flawed Child Support Regime was replaced by a fair and reasonable child support system that focused on supporting our children, not benefit recovery, ” concluded Nicolle.

Jim Nicolle Co-ordinator
NZ Child Support Reform Network
Wellington regional contact.
[email protected]
(04) 586-0880
(021) 452-628

NZCSReform is a network of groups and individuals working in their area
of interest, to bring about a fair and reasonable child support system
replacing the current unfair and unreasonable Child Support Regime.

The Government is not convinced major changes to the structure of courts are needed but has ordered officials to look into this further.

However, Justice Minister Phil Goff and Courts Minister Rick Barker said its focus was first on improving efficiency in the courts system rather than planning radical changes to its structure.

The Government yesterday released its response to a report by the Law Commission that recommended a raft of measures aimed at making the courts simpler, quicker and cheaper for those going through them.

The commission released its report in March.

Among its many recommendations was axing the district court and replacing it with a community court to deal with minor cases — the prime reason for many of the current backlogs — and specialist criminal and civil courts to deal with more serious cases.
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Labour tells us ” its on the radar” .The ACT Party responds with a call to “scrap the Ministry of Women’s Affairs” .

Let me take you back to Monday 6 September :

Over tea last night Jim, Kerry, Jack and myself discussed the Men’s Picnic on fathers day at Parliament. It was a great day full of fun and clowns,face painting, balloon’s, radio controlled cars, soccer, frisbees, lollie scrambles, sausages in sauce,music and fizzy. It was a day when some fathers where able to celebrate their fatherhood with their children. Be it balloon sword fights or or cooking the sausages together. I know my little man had a ball and will remember the picnic for a long time.

Not all dads who came had the opportunity to spend fathers day with their children. A number had been deprived of their children by the outdated, adversarial system of Family Law in our country. A system that fuels existing conflict and creates conflict where none exists. All the while tearing families apart and stripping away “liable parents” and their children’s financial future via “Child Support”. Everyone knows that New Zealand Family Law is a failed social experiment in need of real reform.

The fatherlessness of our children is a very worrying social trend. Kids need dads. Parents are demanding a system of shared parenting. Equal parents, jointly making decisions and sharing the care of our children.

It was a Fathers Day picnic on Parliament grounds , the start of a tradition that will continue for a long time. One day it will be a celebration of real reform of Family Law and the Child Support Act. The fesivity did carry a subtle message. Men have identified who has the power to bring about the radical change required to redress the balance. Political Parties have been put on notice.

Which brings us back to the current debate.

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The ACT Party has a way to deal with John Tamihere’s suggestion for a ministry of men’s affairs — even things up by scrapping the Ministry of Women’s Affairs.

ACT MP Heather Roy said Mr Tamihere was right when he said men were not treated the same as women.

“But rather than setting up a ministry of men’s affairs we should even things up by simply scrapping the Women’s Affairs Ministry,” she said in a statement.

“The ministry does nothing for women but tell them that the white, middle-class heterosexual male is to blame for everything — all the while treating women with patronising sympathy and telling them they need closer relationships with the Government.”

Eleven troubled Christchurch teens are being tailed at school by government-funded minders because of concerns about their aggressive and sexually inappropriate behaviour.

The minders are paid by Child, Youth and Family (CYF) to accompany the students to school each day, sit next to them in class and follow them around the playground to ensure that they do not behave in ways which could have them expelled.

Most of the eight boys and five girls with minders are living in CYF care; some are completing rehabilitation programmes for juvenile sex abusers.

Attrill said trackers were not trained social workers, and were employed on a casual basis, after undergoing a police check, for an average hourly rate of $15.

By TARA ROSS

The father of slain six-year-old schoolgirl Coral-Ellen Burrows believes mandatory reporting – repeatedly ruled out by successive governments – could have saved his daughter…

Under mandatory reporting regimes overseas, teachers and doctors must report instances of suspected child abuse, but efforts to introduce that here have been rejected by both National and Labour governments.

CYF Minister Ruth Dyson confirmed the government had no plans to introduce it in the future.

But a former Commissioner for Children and advocate of mandatory reporting, Roger McClay, said even the slightest suspicion of abuse should be acted on. If one child’s life was saved for every nine false alarms, he said, “so be it”.

By HANK SCHOUTEN

A ministry of men’s affairs could be set up to deal with serious men’s issues, says Youth Affairs Minister John Tamihere.

He was commenting on a call to set up a ministry made by organisers of a men’s rights picnic that marked Father’s Day with a protest at Parliament yesterday.

“I think the concept of a men’s affairs ministry is on the radar screen,” Mr Tamihere said. “I think we’ve got to have a far more intelligent conversation about men’s health, welfare and performance issues generally.”
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Plunket is celebrating Father’s Day by congratulating the men who are making their children a priority in their lives.

“When we consider the short and long-term benefits to children of having both parents fully involved in their care and upbringing, it is clear that society will also ultimately benefit,” says Erin Beatson, clinical advisor with Plunket.

“International research 1 supports what we all know to be true – that fathers make a real difference in child development outcomes for both boys and girls, especially with self-esteem, emotional wellbeing, the capacity to love and be loved, and the ability to participate in society.

“Plunket acknowledges the difficulties for many parents of achieving this, but it is exciting to see fathers themselves wanting things to change,” she says.
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Dr Muriel Newman – Press Releases – Social Welfare

If Youth Affairs Minister John Tamihere is so concerned with Kiwi boys lacking adequate role models, then why doesn’t he put his money where his mouth is, ACT New Zealand Deputy Leader and Social Welfare Spokesman Dr Muriel Newman challenged today.

“Mr Tamihere is right: many boys in sole-parent families do lack suitable male role models. But if he were truly sincere, he would have acknowledged that one of the biggest contributors to this problem is our flawed Family Law,” Dr Newman said.
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ACT New Zealand Deputy Leader and Social Welfare Spokesman Dr Muriel Newman today urged Chief Family Court Judge Peter Boshier to continue his push for more openness in the Family Court.

“The Care of Children Bill currently before Parliament is a step in the right direction towards greater openness, but it does not go far enough. As Judge Boshier is aware: if we want to stop child abuse, then the true stories that the court hears on a daily basis of what happens in violent households must be exposed.”

“Only when we have a Family Court that is open to public scrutiny will the hard facts be known, and the problems recognised by the wider public.”

A pilot programme aimed at reducing domestic violence will see Family Safety Teams established in Wairarapa/Hutt Valley, Auckland/Hamilton, Christchurch, and Counties Manukau, Justice Minister Phil Goff said today…

“While family violence reports may initially increase with greater awareness of effective services, the initiative is expected to reduce family violence.

“The new services will focus on high-risk situations and put in place preventive measures.” Mr Goff said the four sites had been chosen by a steering committee comprising representatives of relevant government agencies and the non-government agencies Women’s Refuge, Stopping Violence Services, Child Abuse Prevention Services, and Northern
Regional Advisory Group…

Funding of $15.2 million over four years was made available in this year’s Budget, and the teams’ work will be evaluated over a three-year period.

The select committee report on the Care of Children Bill is now available (as a pdf).

Principal Family Court Judge Peter Boshier says the Care of Children Bill before Parliament will see more children being heard directly in court and their views given more weight.

Judges had traditionally not welcomed directly interviewing children in Family Court cases, preferring to learn their wishes through psychologists’ reports, Judge Boshier said yesterday.

But many children were able to express their wishes and should be given the ability to do so, he told a Psychological Society seminar on the Family Court.

A recent High Court ruling on a Family Court case emphasised that the wishes of children should primarily be heard through an interview by the judge or via the lawyer appointed to represent the child in court.

Politician and Official agree, so called Child Support is a Tax

On 15 August 2004 the Hon Paul Swain,Associate Minister of Revenue and John Wright, Under-Secretary to the Minister of Revenue, issued a media statement. Fairer tax treatment proposed by discussion document. I would suggest that you read the statement. In summary it’s a media release telling taxpayers that IRD want to try and be fairer.

“The proposals in this discussion document attempt to strike a balance between the two extremes, to encourage voluntary compliance with the tax laws in the best possible way.”

Interesting as this is have a look at question and answer number six :

6. Will these proposals apply to all taxes?

Yes, with the exception of child support. Child support payments may be passed on to the custodial parent and are paid for the support of children. If child support debt was written off the children involved would suffer and the principles of the scheme would be undermined.

Its nice to see Paul Swain, the politician, and John Wright, the official agreeing with what we have been saying for a long time.

It is child tax, not child support.It is calculated on gross income using an inflexible formula and mostly ends up in the consolidated fund. It targets a group called ‘liable’ parents and it takes no account of individual circumstances. The Child Support Act 1991 is focused on collecting money, not on supporting our children, and is nothing more than a tax applied to ‘liable’ parents

Given that David Cunliffe, espouses the notion, “that the level of payment is fair and that the system is based on sound principles.” one can only conclude : that taxing separated parents with a Child Tax is fair and sound?

David Cunliffe and other tax collectors would do well to remember the words of Tiberuius Cesar “It is the duty of a good shepherd to shear his sheep, not to skin them.”

Myself, I am reflecting on the words of Henry David Thoreau ” If a thousand men were not to pay their tax-bills this year, that would not be a violent and bloody measure, as it would be to pay them, and enable the State to commit violence and shed innocent blood. This is, in fact, the definition of a peaceable revolution, if any such is possible.”

Think about it friends, a “peaceable revolution” may be the answer?

The Child Support Act 1991 is financially crippling, mothers, fathers, children, step families, parents with student loans, parents with variable income, parents who are suddenly unemployed, parents planning families……the list goes on.The time for change is long overdue.

Thursday night I am having a reunion with some of the friends I made on MEN’s Convoy 2004 as we prepare for the MENZ PIKNIK (for Dad ,Mum and the Kids) at Parliament this Sunday, Fathers Day. It will be a great celebration, music, clowns, lollies for the kids, a sausage sizzle, prizes and giveaways. A celebration of fathers on fathers day. All are welcome.

Following the PIKNIK I will be addressing the Wellington Members of NZChild Support Reform Network. An update on this will follow next week.

The theme of this address will be “Is a peaceable revolution the answer? ” Keep an eye on your email and letterboxes.

Together we will achieve our goal of a fair and reasonable child support system.

Keep the comments flowing.!

Regards
Scrap_The_CSA

Press Release: Victoria University of Wellington

Judge to address Family Court seminar
The role of the Family Court will be the focus of debate at a one-day seminar on Monday 30 August, organised in association with Victoria University’s Roy McKenzie Centre for the Study of Families and hosted by the New Zealand Psychological Association.

Issues for the Family Court will open with a presentation from Principal Family Court Judge Peter Boshier, who will discuss his view of future directions in the Court, including openness, the participation of children, the role of court professionals and other changes signalled in the impending Care of Children Bill.
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Quotes on the New Zealand Child Support Act 1991 collected from public websites on the Internet via a search engine.
Suggested Search Terms :
Child Support Act 1991, Child Support Theory, Men’s Convoy 2004,
Child Support Reform.

“In light of that is can be easy to forget the basic truth that in child support I know staff want to be as helpful as possible, that the level of payment is fair and that the system is based on sound principles”

David Cunliffe, Minister Responsible for Child Support : Child Support National Workshop 28 July 2004.
See full speech at http://www.beehive.govt.nz/ViewDocument.cfm?DocumentID=20446

Perhaps David Cunliffe would do well to listen to what the real situation is:

“There are major problems with the Child Support Act which are not addressed by this Bill. In particular, a basic flaw is that the objects of the Act are inconsistent with the formulae. This is discussed in the August 2000 issue of the New Zealand Law Journal. An extract from a version of the article is appended to this submission. Any piecemeal change to the Act is likely to exacerbate these problems.”

Stuart Birks, Director, Centre for Public Policy Evaluation, Massey University, Submission to Social services Select Committee on the Child Support Amendment Bill 2001
For full submission see https://fatherandchild.org.nz/cppe-papers/csasub.htm

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Police in Whakatane have detected an upsurge in family violence as a flow-on effect of the region’s floods.

Community Sergeant Neil Peterson said yesterday that reported family violence had doubled during the weeks since the July flooding.

“We average five to six incidents each week but there is obviously a lot of stress and frustration out there in the community,” Mr Peterson said.

“There are lots of different types of family violence and it is not always partners fighting. Some cases have involved mothers and daughters or even extended family members.”
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Judicial activism creates a vicious cycle that undermines confidence in court decisions, says a long-serving United States federal appellate judge, Diarmuid O’Scannlain, brought to New Zealand by the US State Department.

Judge O’Scannlain referred to the present “conversation” between New Zealand politicians and the judiciary on the question of judicial activism – when judgments reflect what judges want the law to be rather than applying the law.

But he said he would “never deign to take sides in such a debate”.

However, speaking at the United States Embassy in Wellington yesterday, Judge O’Scannlain, who was nominated by President Ronald Reagan 18 years ago, was highly critical of the effects of judicial activism.

“Eschewing judicial restraint for judicial activism such as this can generate a vicious cycle by triggering a lack of confidence in judicial decisions, which thereby stimulates political meddling, which again reinforces a lack of confidence in judicial decisions.”

On July 28 David Cunliff delivered an address to the Child Support National Worksop.

My response to David Cunliff’s speech is in italics

What is clear is that the advice Mr Cunliff receives is very different from the reality of the experiences of Parents and Children subjected to the Chilod Support Act 1991.

Hon David Cunliffe
28 July 2004

Address to Child Support National Workshop

We all have something in common. We all have jobs where our clients have pretty much decided they don’t like us before they come to us. They come to us at difficult times. At times of stress. And we tend to hear from people when something is going wrong, or they disagree with a decision that has been taken. Not much correspondence comes through my office that congratulates me on a decision or policy.

I don’t get a lot of letters saying that the writer has just had an interaction with our department where the staff were helpful, that the decisions were fair and that the system is based on sound principles. In light of that is can be easy to forget the basic truth that in child support I know staff want to be as helpful as possible, that the level of payment is fair and that the system is based on sound principles.

Its all very well preaching this erroneous information to the to the converted. Spin doctoring does not change fact.

I challenge David Cunliffe to debate with me the fairness of the Child Support Act and the soundness of its principles. I have spent extensive time working with parents subjected to the current Child Support Regime. I can produce real people to back up the mountain of issues experienced by parents affected by this Act. I have extensive knowledge of NZ and International child Support Law and systems.

The reality is that the Act is based on flawed principles that have lost any vestige of credibility that proponents of this unfair and draconian Child Support Regime claim.

Overall, we have a basically sound piece of legislation in place. It needs some updating, which I will discuss later but it is basically sound. That means that it is up to those that administer the legislation to do so in a manner that is consistent and fair, and with a customer focus

They can administer it fairly or consistently but it does not change the fact that the Child Support Act 1991 is fundamentally flawed. The hundreds of millions of debt point to the underlying problems with a “simple formula” that stems from an Act. The Act is all about benefit recovery and not about supporting children.

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New Zealand First social services spokesperson Bill Gudgeon has called for a review of protection order provisions and police responses to domestic incidents under the Domestic Violence Act.

“Domestic violence is a major problem for New Zealand women. It has been blamed for up to 27 deaths each year,” Mr Gudgeon said.

“Evidence suggests that the Domestic Violence Act has lost its effectiveness since it was introduced nine years ago because women are losing faith in the protection provisions that it offers.

“Women are being discouraged by court delays and the failure of the authorities, the courts and the police to enforce the law. Because of this, they are resorting to informal agreements which can’t be enforced by police who appear to have different interpretations of the Act anyway.

“This results in even further violence.

“The legislation should be amended to ensure that greater protection is given to victims of domestic violence, and that anyone who breaches a protection order is automatically arrested.

“More robust enforcement provisions and the need for greater collaboration between Police, Child Youth and Family, Courts, Women’s Refuge and Stopping Violence services are issues that should be considered in the review,” Mr Gudgeon concluded.

The man … leaped from the bridge on August 6, just hours after he had quit his job with the department’s child support team in Takapuna.

Staff told the Weekend Herald that the man had complained to management that he could not cope with the stress and demands of working at night.

They said he was not happy about having to deal with the sometimes angry complaints Child Support received at night and asked to be transferred to the day shift where he would be dealing with clients face to face.

Men’s health issues will get special attention from National, says the party’s new health spokeswoman, Judith Collins.

She has asked associate health spokesman Paul Hutchison to take responsibility for promoting men’s and children’s health, and pharmaceuticals.

There had been no specific men’s health initiatives in the past five years, Judith Collins claimed. Sitting on Parliament’s health select committee for 18 months, she had constantly listened to “women talking about women’s health”.

Nobody is even certain how many teen fathers are out there. The meagre statistics available (commissioned by the former Ministry of Youth Affairs and dating back to 1997) indicate that just over half the babies born to teenaged girls are fathered by teenaged boys.

Given New Zealand has one of the highest teen pregnancy rates in the developed world, the lack of solid information is bizarre, says Father and Child Trust co-ordinator Harald Breiding-Buss.

Victoria University associate professor of psychology Jan Pryor … interviewed 15 teen fathers in 1995. Her findings have never been published, but she describes it as one of the most extraordinary studies she has done. “I had no idea it [fatherhood] would be so important to them … These were ordinary young men, but they had been through the birth and had been extraordinarily moved by it … That was a turning point for them.
More than one of them was in tears describing the birth of their child.”

Hon Rick Barker

There is a real mood of willingness for the Family Court system to be brought into the 21st Century. As family changes involve step parents and children, single parents and extended family – the role of the family court changes.

The government is listening to what practitioners envisage for the court.
We talk about wanting more openness, but at the same time we must be confident that families won’t get caught up in a media circus and lose their privacy.

Generally for people to need a family court, things are not going so well in their lives, so everyone involved is dealing with many different emotions.

It is my job and the role of you all here tonight to make the rocky road as smooth as possible.

The government announced a $73 million budget package to improve the courts by injecting money into new technology, staffing and facilities.

I am just quickly going to read over some of the initiatives that are coming up:
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