Noble Court Decisions: Opposed to Common Sense?

Court reverses child support damages decision?

A Victorian court has reversed a decision, which awarded damages to a man who paid child support for two children that a paternity test revealed were not his?

In 2002 the County Court ordered the wife of 52-year-old Liam Magill pay him $70,000 for general damages and economic loss for child support he paid for two children he did not father.

It found the law of deceit applied because Mr Magill was falsely led to believe he was the father of the woman's two younger children.

A noble cause and not common sense?

What noble cause you might ask? To close the flood-gates of litigation regardless of any loss suffered by the applicant who made the claim!

After the fact!

The court heard Meredith Magill had been having an affair when her second and third children were conceived.

Today the Victorian Supreme Court upheld her appeal against damages?

Justice Jeffrey Eames found Mrs Magill did not wholly set out to deceive her husband despite an admission she suspected one of the children might not be his when she nominated him as the father on an application for child support?

How do you work that out the man was deceived and raised two children that were not his? Allegedly his wife had no knowledge and it was not her intention?

But Mrs Magill did wholly have an affair, fell pregnant and had the babies, then expected another man who happened to be her husband to pay for them. How is that not fraud, deception and lies?

A conservative court no doubt!

Because it would leave the gate open for every other person to claim the same if it were to happen to them.

What about a refund?

But the agency that collects the alimony for all the other children of divorced parents would expect all the fathers to pay for the children they believed were of the marriage until they found out.

It makes me wonder if they'll get a refund off the agency who payed the mother his hard earned savings because it seems clear that once they've paid it out according to this precedent they don't get a refund off the mother?

My advice is to have a DNA test done after every child is born to ensure that you're paying for your own child and not someone else's.

By Conservative Court 17 March 05

Fed Govt threatens force over mental health spending!

The Federal Government has threatened to coerce the states and territories to spend more on mental health services.

Parliamentary secretary for health Christopher Pyne says Commonwealth funding for mental health services increased by 128 per cent between 1993 and 2002, while state and territory funding during that time increased by just 40 per cent.

Mr Pyne says while substantial improvements have been made, developments have not been consistent across all states and territories.

"If the Commonwealth is pulling its weight, we expect the states to pull theirs," he said.

"So through negotiation, coercion and simply working together, I guess that's the way we'll try and bring about an improvement in the states' performance in the mental health area."

"The states have a responsibility to provide the right services to people who are suffering with mental health," he said.

By Just Us 29 November 04

Deaths in Custody, Police Powers and Mental Illness
The NSW Police Force should not have a role in the psychiatric diagnosis and medication of the public. Police are not medically trained in this speciality.

Police to uphold law not decide mental health
A diagnosis of mental illness could be made over the phone instead of in person, and involuntary psychiatric patients could lose the right to have their case reviewed by a magistrate, under proposed changes to NSW mental health laws.

At The Ministers Pleasure?
20 people have been recommended for release from Long Bay Prison Hospital yet they are still there.

Jails-The new asylums?
QUENTIN DEMPSTER: Asylum seekers -- no, not what you think -- but those who are so disillusioned with the current approach of our mental health system that they believe we should go back to the old ways and rebuild the asylums.

MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES IN N S W
Ms CLOVER MOORE (Bligh) [4.43 p.m.]: Today I speak about the shocking situation for people with mental illness, and call for urgent government action. There have been calls for reform of mental health services as far back as the 1983 Richmond report, followed by the 1988 Barclay report and the 1993 Burdekin report.

Conditions in the HRMU
Justice Action is trying to obtain documents on behalf of prisoners held in the Goulburn High Risk Management Unit (HRMU) from the Federal Attorney General's Department, Corrective Services Minister's Conference regarding the process described below, in which the Standard Guidelines for Corrections in Australia were adopted. This documentation will help explain the justification for the conditions in the HRMU.

Forensic Hospital at Long Bay
NSW should reject the government decision to set up a secure forensic hospital at Long Bay - or in any place where it can be influenced by the Department of Corrective Services (DCS) (or probably Corrections Health Service (CHS) for that matter).

Escape from hell?
A third person has escaped from the Adelaide's Glenside psychiatric hospital as health authorities prepare to begin a second review of security.

Escape proof but not so the prisoners mind
Fewer prisoners escape from prison these days because they're "cemented in" by materials that do not break and by legislation that can keep prisoners in jail until they die.

Parents on the inside leave children on the edge
Life in jail is an ordeal but it's a much harsher sentence for the child of a prisoner, writes Paola Totaro. 30 July 03

History of trauma dogs sole parents and the government
Australia's sole parents including those who were squarely divided by the Family Court of Australia which include tens of thousands of lone mothers on welfare benefits have experienced rape, physical assault, torture and mental health disorders at some time during their life, a new study shows.

RESTORING TRUE JUSTICE:
Australian prisons are fast becoming the new asylums of the third millennium. The prison industry is booming, while Australia spends far less on mental health services than similar countries.

Child detainees 'living in a nightmare', report finds
A report being released today documents disturbing evidence about mental health for children in detention centres.The report is a joint work by the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists, NSW University and NSW psychiatrists.

The children's crusader
It is all about prevention. As Fiona Stanley sees it, with one in five Australian teenagers experiencing significant mental health problems, there are just not enough treatment services to cope with the demand.

Bill toughens Tasmania's family violence laws

Tasmania is set to have some of Australia's toughest family violence laws following the passing of a controversial bill.

The Family Violence Bill has passed the Legislative Council with only a minor amendment.

Attorney-General Judy Jackson has made no apology for proposing pro-arrest family violence laws.

But Nelson MLC Jim Wilkinson says the presumption against bail went too far, wrongly restricting the judiciary's discretion.

Under amendments accepted by both Houses of Parliament, police and magistrates will only be allowed to refuse bail to a person charged with a family violence offence if it is likely that release would affect the safety, well being and interests of another person.

Ms Jackson says the Bill's passing is terrific.

"We do have some of the best legislation in the world for protecting women and children," she said.

The legislation introduces new offences of economic and emotional abuse and comes into effect in March.

By My Favourite Martian 26 November 04

Related:

Labor says divorce plan not good enough
The Federal Opposition says the Government is doing too little, and taking too long, to overhaul arrangements for divorcing parents.

80-20 Family Court rule irrational: Martian
A Martian came down from Mars and he noticed that children were the products of a father and a mother. When the family split up the children were still the products of a father and a mother.

Fatherless Society "80-20 rule Vs 50-50 rule" family law
A Federal Parliamentary inquiry has heard that more children will grow up without fathers unless changes are made to family law. The committee is considering whether separated parents should share equal custody of their children.

Zero Tolerance for Families
A three-strikes plan, which uses the threat of fines and jail to (force) parents to meet their parental obligations after divorce, could be introduced under a draft proposal from the parliamentary committee charged with reviewing the Family Law Act.

Money will save relationship services, welfare group says?

Catholic, [? religious bondage], Welfare Australia says the immediate injection of $15 million into family relationships programs will prevent planned cuts to services.

[Welfare? How about Relationship Service? Social Services? After all it is taxpayers who support it, not the ruling class or religion.]


Father Joe Caddy, chairman of the service, says the program has been under review for almost eight years, and funding has not kept up with increasing demand.

"The family relationship support programs were beginning to fall over, they were so lacking in funding," he said.

"We've had to reduce some of our services around the country from between 30 to 80 per cent so it's tremendous that that family relationship support services can be put back into place and be put on a reasonable footing."

Father Caddy has also welcomed the Prime Minister's announcement of the establishment of a new national community-based network of family relationship centres, providing mediation for separation and child custody disputes.

By The Family 29 July 04

Joe Blowback: Put your hand out and people like John Howard [war criminals from the ruling class], will give you money for votes. But not religion. I say keep religion out of families and give the money to an independent and qualified relationship service provider and not to a church.

Related:

Labor says divorce plan not good enough
The Federal Opposition says the Government is doing too little, and taking too long, to overhaul arrangements for divorcing parents.

Custody overhaul to improve men's access to children
The Federal Government has announced an overhaul of family law arrangements, with plans to give men involved in marriage break-ups greater access to their children.

Zero Tolerance for Families
A three-strikes plan, which uses the threat of fines and jail to (force) parents to meet their parental obligations after divorce, could be introduced under a draft proposal from the parliamentary committee charged with reviewing the Family Law Act.

80-20 Family Court rule irrational: Martian
A Martian came down from Mars and he noticed that children were the products of a father and a mother. When the family split up the children were still the products of a father and a mother.

Fatherless Society "80-20 rule Vs 50-50 rule" family law
A Federal Parliamentary inquiry has heard that more children will grow up without fathers unless changes are made to family law. The committee is considering whether separated parents should share equal custody of their children.

Men told to change role but what for?
Fathers must take an equal role in parenting before their marriages end in divorce if changes to child custody laws are going to work, Pru Goward said yesterday.

Family Law: Shared parenting arrangements
My children were four and two years of age and it's been fourteen years since I seen my children who are now adults. I don't know where they are because the government fragmented us by order of the Family Court of Australia, which should be called, the Anti-Family Court of Australia. Big yawn!!!

History of trauma dogs sole parents and the government
Australia's sole parents including those who were squarely divided by the Family Court of Australia which include tens of thousands of lone mothers on welfare benefits have experienced rape, physical assault, torture and mental health disorders at some time during their life, a new study shows.

Australian fathers under terrorist attack-by its Politicians
Ruthless terrorists tactics are used by the state deny devoted fathers their children, and place vulnerable children at risk when they are denied their fathers protection. Five hundred thousand Australian children are denied contact with their father usually resulting from orders of the state by the Family and other Courts.

When is Michael Richardson going to remove the offending Family Court affidavit from the NSW Parliament website? Criminal: Hills district MP Michael Richardson. When is he going to remove these uncorroborated lies and family court pleadings on the confidential Family Court affidavit from the NSW Parliament website?

Custody overhaul to improve men's access to children

The Federal Government has announced an overhaul of family law arrangements, with plans to give men involved in marriage break-ups greater access to their children.

The changes also include new centres to provide compulsory mediation to separating couples.

The shake-up does not include a new families tribunal to hear custody cases, which was the key recommendation of a bipartisan parliamentary inquiry.

Many Coalition MPs backed the idea and Attorney-General Philip Ruddock concedes they will be disappointed.

"I think some will be," he said.

Mr Ruddock says that at $500 million, the tribunal idea was too expensive.

"Cost is relevant if you are looking at the resources that you want to put into helping to resolve disputes. We see the new family relationship model retaining most of the benefits of the tribunal proposal but it also overcomes its limitations," he said.

However, the Government will instead set up 65 "family relationships centres" around the country, with the first 15 to open within a year.

The Government would also ensure children would be legally required to spend time with both parents after a relationship breakdown.

"That would occur in all cases except those involving violence, child abuse and entrenched conflict," Mr Ruddock said.

The Government is also proposing a greater role for grandparents in custody disputes, a plan to make the Family Court less adversarial and to set up a taskforce to review the current child support payments scheme.

Lawyer support

The Law Council of Australia has welcomed the overhaul.

The council's family law chairman, Michael Foster, says the plan may prevent some couples being forced into the courts system.

"Only around 2 per cent of separating families ever need a judge or a magistrate to make a decision, but if we can avoid some of those people needing it in the future that's good," he said.

"For the 98 per cent who've managed to resolve their problems by agreement, then if we can make that quicker and easier, that has to be better for children."

The Australian Families Association has also cautiously welcomed the changes.

The association's Damien Tudehope says the changes will reduce the reliance of couples on lawyers.

He agrees the changes will keep more matters out of the courts.

"You've got to have the backstop of legal issues being resolved by courts," he said.

"If the parties can't resolve it through a relationship centre and hopefully staffed by people with appropriate expertise, then the number of people who would find it necessary to approach the courts would be minimised."

Relationships Australia says the relationships centres will help separating couples.

However, spokeswoman Anne Hollands says more effort should be put into stopping marriage break-downs in the first place.

"What we also need is increased funding for people much much earlier in the process to help them build stronger marriages in the first instance," she said.

"This is a great concern for us at the moment because there was no new funding in the budget for current services which are already struggling to meet demand."

Different priorities

Opposition Leader Mark Latham says the processes of the Family Court should be streamlined, to make it less traumatic and expensive for those coping with family breakdown.

Mark Latham said he will look at the Government's proposals, but he thinks the priorities should be entrenching the idea of shared responsibility for parenting and reforming the Family Court.

"If we can reduce the legal cost and processes, the time, the trauma and get people through the family court processes faster, then everyone's better off. If they get a fair judgement in a faster way, everyone's better off, you can get on with the rest of your life," he said.

By My Favourite Martian 29 July 04

Related:

Zero Tolerance for Families
A three-strikes plan, which uses the threat of fines and jail to (force) parents to meet their parental obligations after divorce, could be introduced under a draft proposal from the parliamentary committee charged with reviewing the Family Law Act.

80-20 Family Court rule irrational: Martian
A Martian came down from Mars and he noticed that children were the products of a father and a mother. When the family split up the children were still the products of a father and a mother.

Fatherless Society "80-20 rule Vs 50-50 rule" family law
A Federal Parliamentary inquiry has heard that more children will grow up without fathers unless changes are made to family law. The committee is considering whether separated parents should share equal custody of their children.

Men told to change role but what for?
Fathers must take an equal role in parenting before their marriages end in divorce if changes to child custody laws are going to work, Pru Goward said yesterday.

Family Law: Shared parenting arrangements
My children were four and two years of age and it's been fourteen years since I seen my children who are now adults. I don't know where they are because the government fragmented us by order of the Family Court of Australia, which should be called, the Anti-Family Court of Australia. Big yawn!!!

Australian fathers under terrorist attack-by its Politicians
Ruthless terrorists tactics are used by the state deny devoted fathers their children, and place vulnerable children at risk when they are denied their fathers protection. Five hundred thousand Australian children are denied contact with their father usually resulting from orders of the state by the Family and other Courts.

When is Michael Richardson going to remove the offending Family Court affidavit from the NSW Parliament website? Criminal: Hills district MP Michael Richardson. When is he going to remove these uncorroborated lies and family court pleadings on the confidential Family Court affidavit from the NSW Parliament website?

Conference: Indigenous Legal Services in Crisis?

Indigenous Legal Volunteers

Current issues in legal services for Indigenous Australians Wednesday 16 June and Thursday 17 June 2004 Sydney.

Are Indigenous legal services in crisis? Is there a more general crisis across the range of organisations and individuals providing services around legal business? Regardless of the ATSILS tendering process, there are issues on the boil right across the country.

The future may be a very different place. The Indigenous Law Centre is hosting a conference that will reveal information, encourage debate and foster networks. We apologise for the short notice but extend a warm invitation to join us here in June.

With this two-day conference we aim to:
consider issues affecting service delivery right now; explore pressing legal issues; share knowledge and innovation; discuss possible futures for service delivery; affect public policy in these areas; and celebrate the work of Indigenous legal services and their partners.

The conference program will include sessions that cover:
hot spots in the law: family, criminal and civil
accessibility and cultural sensitivity: in whose eyes?
innovation in service delivery
getting in early: breaking cycles
to tender or too tender: the future for specialist Indigenous legal services
recommendations from the Royal Commission: a[nother] reckoning
resolving disputes and conflict: methods and madness
services from other sources: roles, relationships, communication
governance, management, accountability
resources: cold hard cash, pro bono, services in-kind
understanding and measuring legal needs

The conference will be of interest to:
lawyers, paralegal staff, field officers, administrators, educators, board members, counsellors, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal, Services, Indigenous Women's Legal Services, Family Violence Protection Legal Units, Community Legal Centres, Legal Aid Commissions, Native Title Representative Bodies, public lawyers, policy makers, police services, courts, public prosecutors and defenders, councillors and staff of ATSIC Regional Councils, private legal practitioners, researchers and students, staff of other organisations providing services to, Indigenous Australians, advocacy and rights organisations.

More information:
program: A detailed program will be made available shortly. Your ideas about topics and speakers are very welcome. We can arrange places to meet for groups with shared interests. Please direct any suggestions or inquiries to the Indigenous Law Centre at ilc@unsw.edu.au or call 02 9385 2252.

Venue: The venue is the Mathews Theatres at the Kensington campus of the University of New South Wales. The campus is easily accessible from the city, eastern suburbs and airport. Enter through Gate 9 on High Street or through the Anzac Gate on Anzac Parade and follow the University Walk to Upper Campus. Maps are available at Indigenous Law Centre Faculty of Law University of New South Wales Sydney 2052 Australia phone 02 9385 2252 fax 02 9385 1266 email ilc@unsw.edu.au

Indigenous Law Centre Faculty of Law UNSW
Terry Hicks (David's father), Maha Habib (Mamdouh's wife) and Stephen Hopper (Habib's solicitor) will hold a Press Conference at 2pm, Saturday 29 May, at Breakout, 65 Bellevue St, Glebe. They will be speaking at the Justice for Hicks and Habib public forum to be held at 6pm tomorrow, Saturday 29 May, at the Granville Youth and Community Recreation Centre, 3A Memorial Drive, Granville.

Press Release *** Press Release *** Press Release Friday 28 May 2004.

Related:

Amnesty sees lack of progress on reconciliation
Amnesty International says the Federal Government must be held accountable for its commitments to Indigenous services. Amnesty's annual report highlights Australia's record on Indigenous social justice, raising concerns about what it calls a lack of progress in reconciliation, as well as violence against women and deaths in custody.

Aboriginal Land Council Vs Daily Telegraph
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: "Apparently, Metro officers sponsored Anthony Mundine's company to display a logo in the ring during his September fight against American Antwun Echols.

Amnesty report criticises Aust, US
Amnesty International has accused Australia of using national security to justify the erosion of human rights and says the United States has proved "bankrupt of vision and bereft of principle" in its fight against terrorism and invasion of Iraq.

Redfern drug dealers: Who is Mr Big?
Police officer blames Redfern riot on heroin instead of a police pursuit? And who's the Koori junkie living on the hill with all the cash? A senior Redfern police officer says a flourishing illegal drug trade is the main cause of problems in Redfern's Aboriginal community, known as The Block. But just like Kings Cross it doesn't get cleaned up and the Mr Bigs are living like pigs. Ha ha. That's right someone supplies and someone accumulates large sums of money and someone has targeted Redfern and allows it to flourish there.

Update: ATSIC Abolition:
On 16 April 2004 on the Jeremey Cordeaux Radio show South Australian Premier Mike Rann attacked ATSIC as a disgrace and falsely alleged it was wasting the $2.6 Billion. Jeremey wrongly claimed it was 2003-2004 budget (the figure is a better approximation of the the MAINSTREAM $Bs amount that the Federal Liberal Government took from ATSIC and already gives annually to mainstream Commonwealth Departments from 1996).

The bone has been pointed at Howard
A Queensland Indigenous leader says an ancient Aboriginal curse placed on Prime Minister John Howard is no laughing matter and could even have deadly consequences.Suspended Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commissioner (ATSIC) chairman Geoff Clark was with a group of Aboriginal people who performed a ceremony known as pointing the bone at Howard at Colac in south-west Victoria this week.

PM in denial over Redfern Death in Custody
Prime Minister John Howard says treating Aborigines differently is contributing to violent confrontations with police.

INDIGENOUS EMPLOYMENT: ISJA
If we want to survive we must work at it Indigenous unemployment reaching crisis: welfare group Action to lower Indigenous unemployment rate Govt underspends on indigenous employment: dept Economic development: The outback malaise Call for end to Indigenous welfare cycle.

O'Shane blasts constitution
Controversial New South Wales magistrate Pat O'shane has described the Australian Constitution as flawed and grossly inappropriate.

Demounting Auntie Isabel Coe
The information demountable and Auntie Isabel Coe's demountable were set alight at 3am last Saturday morning. The info demountable was completely destroyed- 31 years of photos and info on the grassroots Indigenous rights movement destroyed! Wilson Tukey (FUCKER)has wanted any excuse to get rid of the embassy for ages. This week he has been using the excuse that the burnt out shell is a danger to the community therefore the embassy must be removed.

Zero Tolerance for Families

Three-strikes and you're out of the family?

A three-strikes plan, which uses the threat of fines and jail to (force) parents to meet their parental obligations after divorce, could be introduced under a draft proposal from the parliamentary committee charged with reviewing the Family Law Act.

Non-custodial parents mainly fathers? Who for example fail to pick up their children at the time dictated by Family Court orders would face "reasonable but minimum financial penalties" the first and second time they breach conditions? If the parent breaches the conditions for a third time and shows a "pattern of deliberate defiance", then all access rights could be withdrawn.

But why mainly fathers? Is father a dirty word in 2003? Could that be discriminatory considering 80-20 Family Court rule that's 20 per cent access for fathers and 80 per cent access for mothers. So I suppose fathers are more likely to breach the arrangements that are typically unfairly made in the first place.

How does zero tolerance work when families are based on trial and error? You tell me. I'll tell you. Then we'll both know. I guess you don't have to be a rocket scientist to get on the parliamentary committee charged with reviewing the Family Law Act.

The parent could also face imprisonment if consistently continuing to breach court orders.

GKCNN has been told the fines are intended as a "wrap over the knuckles" to encourage the parent to correct their behaviour. The same "wrap over the knuckles" force and threats used by our government to get short term results which helps the community accept, quite wrongly, that "wrapping people over the knuckles" is a way to get things done. Which it is not!

How about inviting people into the decision making process and finding out more information about those involved. How about asking how parents can help, therefore getting and obligation from the parents to help, because they may have come up with a solution, taking into account their circumstances.

All too hard for the government, they'd rather find a violent solution that gives them short-term results but a long-term disaster coupled with the inflation of it.

It's okay though, because the fundamental group unit of society (the family) and the taxpayers will pay for it won't they?

GKCNN understands the recommendation is contained in a draft report distributed to members of the Family and Community Affairs Committee for their comment yesterday. The final report is due by the end of the year.

The draft report also is understood to recommend giving grandparents for the first time special status in custody hearings a proposal that could make it easier for them to gain custody of their grandchildren.

In addition, parents would have to include grandparents when developing their parenting plans, and to develop a range of strategies to ensure they are part of the mediation process.

The three-strike recommendation flows from a series of hearings where children have told of the disappointment of waiting for parents who never arrive. While the Family Court can fine parents who fail to meet their responsibilities; it is understood that the committee members believe they do not use their powers enough.

In other words the stick is not big enough, long enough and hard enough like a prison sentence or a fine?

Other recommendations being considered include requiring all separating couples to lodge parenting plans with a new tribunal.

The tribunal could include a child psychologist, a mediator and a family law expert. This effectively would mean that custody disputes would be removed from the Family Court and dealt with by a tribunal.

Family Court Chief Justice Alastair Nicholson has attacked this proposal, describing it as unconstitutional and impractical.

Not just that but lazy and general. Not particularly suitable for a families individual needs but more suitable for a bunch of victim industry graziers looking for a feed. Like lawyer's psychologists and mediators.

You need these people with a formula that incites violence and you also need to jail those who don't agree three times. Short answer! Lazy corporate greed opposed to a better community response.

The Prime Minister asked the Family and Community Affairs Committee to investigate a range of highly emotive issues, including automatic 50-50-child custody after divorce, when he announced the inquiry in June.

Frustrations over child custody and support consistently rank among the most common complaints raised with government backbenchers.

By No Human Error 25 Nov 03

Related:

Fatherless Society "80-20 rule Vs 50-50 rule" family law
A Federal Parliamentary inquiry has heard that more children will grow up without fathers unless changes are made to family law. The committee is considering whether separated parents should share equal custody of their children.

80-20 Family Court rule irrational: Martian
A Martian came down from Mars and he noticed that children were the products of a father and a mother. When the family split up the children were still the products of a father and a mother.

Australia to tackle child abuse and rescue impoverished children?
A national report on child protection in the Northern Territory has blasted the system, saying it has abandoned the most impoverished children and families in Australia.

ATSIC call to smack kids?
The ATSIC commissioner said the high levels of regulation was not unlike the attention focused on Aboriginal families that led to the creation of a Stolen Generation of Aboriginal people. Mr Hill said he did not condone violence and admitted he did not smack his own children, but he stressed he wanted the issue of child discipline debated among Aboriginal people and community leaders.

No-Smacking Day for Children in NSW
Patmalar Ambikapathy the Children's Commissioner, HOBART Tasmania spoke to Gregory Kable a caseworker at Justice Action at the Controlling Crime Conference at Redfern in Sydney yesterday and we both realised how parallel our ideas about crime prevention were.

Judge renews child detainee release call
A Family Court judge, for a second time, has appealed to Immigration Minister, war criminal, Philip Ruddock to address the issue of children in detention.

Partnership to tackle Aboriginal children's health issues
Australian of the Year Professor Fiona Stanley has called for a sense of urgency in tackling the serious health problems facing Aboriginal children.

Graffiti: What they see is what you get
Father David Equal, a community leader has described the graffiti as the response to neglect by Australia's leaders, and the mainstream media, who have discriminated against people, recently.

Ruddock to challenge Family Court ruling
Ruddock said it is unfortunate the Full Court of the Family Court made the decision. He said a successful High Court challenge could see the children returned to detention.

Men told to change role but what for?
Fathers must take an equal role in parenting before their marriages end in divorce if changes to child custody laws are going to work, Pru Goward said yesterday.

Parents on the inside leave children on the edge
They have been dubbed the forgotten generation - the innocent casualties of their parents' crimes. New research shows that in 2001 14,500 NSW children had a parent in jail. And 60,000 NSW children under 16 have experienced the incarceration of a parent, more than half enduring the trauma of separation before they turn five.

States to cooperate on school curriculums but social skills don't rate? State and territory education ministers say Federal Education Minister Brendan Nelson's heavy-handed threats to school funding will not assist their ambitious initiative to develop consistent school curriculum’s in key subjects.[?]

Family Law: Shared parenting arrangements
My children were four and two years of age and it's been fourteen years since I seen my children who are now adults. I don't know where they are because the government fragmented us by order of the Family Court of Australia, which should be called, the Anti-Family Court of Australia. Big yawn!!!

School Curriculum needs balance? Life Skills and Academic Skills go hand in hand man Colin you need to be the students friends not their judge. Only when you can invite the students into the decision making process will you get an obligation by them to change their behaviour, because you Colin could lead by example and not by power.

Australian fathers under terrorist attack-by its Politicians
Ruthless terrorists tactics are used by the state deny devoted fathers their children, and place vulnerable children at risk when they are denied their fathers protection. Five hundred thousand Australian children are denied contact with their father usually resulting from orders of the state by the Family and other Courts.

When is Michael Richardson going to remove the offending Family Court affidavit from the NSW Parliament website? Criminal: Hills district MP Michael Richardson. When is he going to remove these uncorroborated lies and family court pleadings on the confidential Family Court affidavit from the NSW Parliament website?

NSW education professor warns further commitment needed
The author of a report on the New South Wales education system has urged the major political parties to do more for education in the election campaign.

Fiona Stanley, the children's crusader
It is all about prevention. As Fiona Stanley sees it, with one in five Australian teenagers experiencing significant mental health problems, there are just not enough treatment services to cope with the demand.

Parents call for feedback on social skills
Parents are calling for the same level of feedback on their children's social development as on their academic progress, according to a national survey.

Call to update suicide prevention strategy: study
A four-year study of suicides by people under the age of 18 in New South Wales, has found little difference between rates of suicide in rural and regional areas and cities.

Alcohol is just the beginning
People who start using alcohol by their mid teens are more than twice as likely as others to experiment with different drugs and to become dependent on drugs a major Australian study has found.

The punishment: Is the 'crime'
The punishment is the crime according to retired chief Justice of the Family Court of Australia Justice Alistair Nicholson. "Smacking a child ought to be seen as assault".

RESTORING TRUE JUSTICE:
Australian prisons are fast becoming the new asylums of the third millennium. The prison industry is booming, while Australia spends far less on mental health services than similar countries.

The Seed
Respect, you only get out what you have put in. What about Life Skills, Communication and Conflict Resolution. Evolution, perhaps some children and adults miss the whole or part of the course. I did, and so how surprised do you think I was when I realised my parents missed the course as well. Things like Compromise, Win Win, Empathy, and Love. Invisible energy and other skills like public speaking, how to Relate, Assuming, Blaming, Forgiveness, Freedom and Discrimination. This is how I learned respect. If you don't know what it is then how do you relate?

The Law According to Gregory Wayne Kable
I was sharply separated from both my children aged just 4 years and two years and sent to prison for the manslaughter of my wife. I cared for my children when my wife worked and I believe that I still had a responsibility to them even after the crisis situation and tragedy. I wanted to reassure them now and find out how they were doing.

When is Michael Richardson going to remove the offending Family Court affidavit from the NSW Parliament website?

Criminal: Hills district MP Michael Richardson. When is he going to remove these uncorroborated lies and family court pleadings on the confidential Family Court affidavit from the NSW Parliament website?

How can politicians commit criminal acts and not be subject to the law like everyone else? When are the police going to charge him for this crime?

REORDERING OF GENERAL BUSINESS

After the Community Protection Act 1994 was struck down by the High Court of Australia Getting Justice Wrong DPP make full admissions then NSW parliament reacted again as follows:

Community Protection (Dangerous Offenders) Bill

Mr RICHARDSON (The Hills) [2.48 p.m.]: I move:
That general business order of the day (for bills) No. 14 have precedence on Thursday, 10 April.

It is urgent that the Community Protection (Dangerous Offenders) Bill be reordered and debated by this House because at this very moment Gregory Wayne Kable is in the Parramatta Family Court seeking to gain access to his children, Brooke and Clarke Kable, aged nine and 11.

[After the High Court of Australia struck down the Community Protection Act 1994.]

Mr Kable wants to see them for two hours four times a year, at the end of school terms, with a view to building up a long-term relationship with them. He also wants to know their new names.

He has completed a 12-week parent training course and has approached the St Vincent de Paul Society and the Salvation Army to ask whether they could supervise the visits.

He says that the children want to see him but that their minds have been poisoned by their guardians. He claims that, far from punishing him, denying access to his children is punishing them.

(Please Note: The rest of Michael Richardson's parliamentary debate is published on the NSW Parliamentary website and not reproduced here for the following reasons...)

Concerning publication of my children’s names by the Member for The Hills in parliamentary debate and now published on the NSW Parliamentary website.

I have asked the NSW Parliament to remove, not only my children's names but the wrong, uncorroborated, and plagiarised information, and the Family Court Application.

Young adults like my two children, ought not be haunted or offended when or if they might decide to search their names on the Internet, and that if they did, that they would not be provided with such offensive and wrong material, for all their friends, relatives, and the general public to search for and see as well.

Related Updated 2010:

Complaint to the NSW Parliament House About it Updated 8/3/2010:

Letter to NSW Parliament House

Ms Lee RHIANNON, MLC
* Member of the Legislative Council
* Member of The Greens
Parliament House,
Macquarie Street,
Sydney NSW 2000
Phone (02) 9230 3551
Fax (02) 9230 3550
Email: lee.rhiannon@parliament.nsw.gov.au
Website : www.nsw.greens.org.au/lee

Dear Ms Rhiannon,

How are you going? I sent this to your email address above and have not received any response to date, so I am forwarding this again to you in the mail.

As I am suing State Parliament for damages, on foot, for false imprisonment and assault, (the case coming up to court on 9 November this year), and as well, I have a conflict of interest with my local member Ms Clover Moore, if you don’t know.

So I was wondering if you could assist me and pass this material to the person who runs the parliament website to have the wrong information removed.

When my daughter Brooke or son Clark type their names in google they get Mr Richardson a Liberal members, wrong information. See link below:

It would appear to the writer that the NSW Parliament website is in breach of S121 of the family Law Act 1975, because at the time the children were minors and certain rules applied, and I would ask if you could assist me with asking that the parliament remove it.

Thanks Regards
Gregory Kable
29 August 2009

Letter From NSW Parliament House

Mr G. Kable
October 2009

Dear Mr Kable.

I refer to your letter dated 8 October 2009, concerning publication of your children’s names by the Member for The Hills in debate. The Hon Lee Rhiannon has also emailed me in relation to this matter.

I acknowledge your concern that the Member named your children in the course of parliamentary debate, and note your advice that the information made public by the Member was probably derived from a Family Court application.

While publication of such information outside of parliamentary proceedings may breach the Federal Family Law Act, speaking in a parliamentary debate Members are able to exercise a freedom of speech which is not constrained by statutory prohibitions.

The basis of this principal is that the law of parliamentary privilege provides absolute immunity to the giving of evidence before the House Committee. As noted in Odgers, it is “a fundamental principle that the law of parliamentary privilege is not affected by a statutory provision unless the provision alters that law by expressed words” [51].

The New South Wales Legislative Assembly Hansard record of debate held in 1997 has been long published, and the circumstances you refer to in your letter unfortunately do not fall within the House procedures which would enable you to make a citizens right of reply.

Yours sincerely
Richard Torbay
Speaker

Letter To NSW Parliament House

Mr Richard Torbay
Speaker
Suit Parliament House
Macquarie Street
SYDNEY NSW 2000

Re: My Family Court Application on Parliament Website

Dear Mr Torbay,

Thank you for responding to my complaint. I refer to your letter dated October 2009, received on 19 October, concerning the publication of my children’s names on the Parliament website, alongside wrong information, by the Member for the Hills in parliamentary debate.

There is no absolute immunity to the giving of evidence that has been provided by two or more parties on a confidential application to the Family Court of Australia, then plagiarized and given before a House or a committee. That material is confidential.

The basis for this principle in a parliamentary debate about the ‘contents of an application’ to the Family Court of Australia is constrained by statutory provisions. As noted in Odgers, preparation and publication of documents p55, “ the contents of a document which has come into existence independently of proceedings in Parliament, for example, a report or letter which is exchanged between two or more parties and is subsequently submitted to a House or a committee, is not protected by parliamentary privilege. (For an application of this principle, see Szwarcbord v Gallop 2002 167 FLR 262.)”

I once again ask that that wrong confidential material and my children’s names be removed from the parliament website.

This is my final notice, you are hereby given 14 more days to notify the writer that the confidential, offending and unlawful material has been removed, otherwise this material will be forwarded to my lawyer for a further damages claim against NSW. 

Regards
Gregory Kable
19 October 2009 

Letter To NSW Parliament House

Mr Richard Torbay
Speaker
Suit Parliament House
Macquarie Street
SYDNEY NSW 2000

Re: My Family Court Application on Parliament Website

Dear Mr Torbay,

As I have received no response to the final notice I sent to you dated 19 October 2009, to remove from the NSW Parliament Website in 14 days, (my children’s names, the confidential, wrong, uncorroborated, and plagiarised information, from the Family Court Application).

Well since then I spoke to Lucy your secretary by phone on 6 November 2009. She told me that you were seeking legal advice about the complaint by us and that my letter was received in your office on 21 October 2009.

I would have thought that common sense would have prevailed when I pleaded to Parliament to remove the material.

Young adults like my two children, ought not be haunted or offended when or if they might decide to search their names on the Internet, and that if they did, that they would not be provided with such offensive and wrong material, for all their friends, relatives, and the general public to search for and see as well.

It is with regret that I must inform you that the matter has now been filed in the Supreme Court of NSW at Sydney. Please see Notice of Status Conference attached for your perusal.

I will be seeking a writ that commands the performance of an act required by law. In this instance the removal of the offensive material as above stated. We will also be seeking costs and damages.

My instructions are not to serve the filed documents until February 2010 at the latest on the basis that Lucy said that you were seeking legal advice and that you would get back to me about it.

So thanks for that and I guess I will either hear from you or not by the time the matter is due for service late February. We would be pleased if you would just have Parliament remove the material and that the matter including costs could be resolved.

Regards
Gregory Kable
12 December 2009

Please Note: Subsequently no further communication was sent by the NSW Parliamentary Speaker Mr Richard Torbay in relation to his alleged legal advice and the litigation was discontinued by myself on the 4th of March 2010 because I was unable to get legal assistance.

Related:

Getting Justice Wrong DPP make full admissions
Back in May 2001 Nicholas Cowdery QC made an error at law by giving a speech called Getting Justice Wrong at the University of New England, Armidale Thursday, 31 May 2001. Sir Frank Kitto, Lecture now published at the DPP website. At page six, paragraph 3 under the heading:

Judicial, mental health and police corruption
Ian Kay, who blew the whistle on judicial and police corruption here in Victoria has recently been improperly incarcerated in MAP Prison, Melbourne for doing nothing more than writing a letter of complaint to his local MP.

Fatherless Society "80-20 rule Vs 50-50 rule" family law
A Federal Parliamentary inquiry has heard that more children will grow up without fathers unless changes are made to family law. The committee is considering whether separated parents should share equal custody of their children.

80-20 Family Court rule irrational: Martian
A Martian came down from Mars and he noticed that children were the products of a father and a mother. When the family split up the children were still the products of a father and a mother.

The Law According to Gregory Wayne Kable
I was sharply separated from both my children aged just 4 years and two years and sent to prison for the manslaughter of my wife. I cared for my children when my wife worked and I believe that I still had a responsibility to them even after the crisis situation and tragedy. I wanted to reassure them now and find out how they were doing.