Response by Mr Barry Williams of the Lone Fathers Association of
Australia Inc. Pursuant to Resolution 5(7)(b)
of the Senate of 25 February 1988
I am currently the President of the LFAA, and have been a committed advocate for
lone fathers and their families for over thirty years. I established the Lone Fathers'
Association (LFA) in 1973. The Association is now a national organisation and peak
body with Branches in most States and Territories. I am also the National Vice
President and Welfare Coordinator of Parents Without Partners Australia (PWP), and
First Vice President of the Shared Parenting Association (SPCA).
I have been a federal lobbyist in the Australian Parliament since 1976. I was
instrumental in having the Single Mothers' Pension extended in 1977 to include single
fathers, following personal representations made by me to the then Prime Minister,
Malcolm Fraser. This was an important move towards greater gender-equality in
family law. Members of Parliament on both sides of politics have told us that the LFA
is respected for the work it does, and in particular for our strong stand against discrimination of any kind. This support for our work has come, amongst many
others, from Senators Joe Ludwig, Jenny Macklin, Gary Humphries, and Steve
Fielding, and previous Senators Jocelyn Newman and David Brownhill.
Claims by Senator Siewert
As you are aware, Senator Siewert stated in the Senate on 3 December 2008 that
Tanya Plibersek, now (ALP) Minister for Housing and Women's Affairs, had
expressed the view some time ago that the LFAA is an "extreme group". Senator
Siewert said that, "Minister Plibersek…stated that she was proud to belong to the ALP
because if refused to deal with extreme groups such as the Lone Fathers Association. I
wonder how proud Minister Plibersek is now?"
Information from the Department of Family and Community Services and Indigenous
Affairs indicates that no such statement was in fact made by Senator Plibersek. What
Ms Plibersek actually said was that, "It makes me proud to be a member of the Labor
Party when I hear that Bob Hawke and Paul Keating are not listening to extreme
voices in this debate". The Lone Fathers Association was not mentioned by Ms
Plibersek at all, nor would it have been at all appropriate to have done so.
Senator Siewert further stated in Parliament that, "During question time today, the
Government justified this appointment (of Barry Williams as a health ambassador),
saying they wanted a diversity of views. Is it the Government's intention to encourage
anti-gay, anti-women, and domestic violence denial? How does this help men's
health?"
Senator Siewert's statement that the Lone Fathers Association is anti-gay and antiwomen and practises "domestic violence denial" is wrong, and in the LFAA's view is seriously defamatory.
The LFAA is not and never has been an extreme group of any kind. The Association
is a moderate and "mainstream" group of fathers and associated family members and
friends who wish to remain part of their children's lives after separation. It has been
recognised as such for several decades, at the highest political level, by successive
Governments from both sides of politics. During this time, the LFAA has made many
well-regarded and influential submissions to government and the Parliament on family
law and related issues.
The LFAA is not in any sense anti-woman. Women account for one third of its
membership and half of its National Committee, and the LFAA has close links with
the gender-neutral, Australia-wide organisation, Parents Without Partners.
Nor is the LFAA in any way anti-gay. It has conducted community services on behalf
of government which fully recognised and respected the equal rights of gay clients,
and was pleased to be able to do this. The LFAA does believe that, at least in the great
majority of cases, children require for their proper emotional and moral development
suitable contact with both their biological parents - but this is not an anti-gay position,
merely a commonsense one.
The LFAA is very strongly opposed to violence against women, and has made this clear on many occasions. The LFAA is, however, also opposed to family violence
against men and children, and has reservations about one-sided propaganda campaigns
against men which create an unjustified anti-male climate of opinion in the
community, encourage false accusations, and fail to provide the help needed by
women, including women who use violence against their children. The "UN report on
violence against women" which Senator Siewert referred to was considered by the UN
representatives of a number of senior western countries, including Australia, to have
displayed an unacceptably extreme gender bias against men, and was not adopted by
the relevant UN committee for that reason. Failure to understand and accept that
decision does indeed, in the LFAA's view, amount to "denial" of the reality of
domestic violence.
Senator Siewert stated in her Parliamentary question that, "…two former prime
ministers (refused) to meet with Mr Williams". This further statement is also wrong.
In fact, I was appointed by the Hawke Government as one of the consultants advising
on the development of the original Child Support Scheme, which was established in
1988. I was subsequently asked by the Deputy Prime Minster of the day, Brian Howe,
to act as a roving ambassador for the Government, and travelled throughout Australia
over a period of two years explaining the new Scheme. Mr Howe was complimentary
about the work done on this project.
I was then subsequently appointed in 2004 by the Howard Government as a member of
the Ministerial Task Force on Child Support, charged with advising on further reform
to child support arrangements. Subsequent to that, I was engaged by the Government
to assist via the Child Support Communications Project by helping publicise the new
Child Support Scheme, and have been complimented by the present Government for
this work.
I was recognised my work for lone parents and their children as recipient of the British
Empire Medal in1980, ACT Senior Australian of the Year Award in 2005, and the
Prestige Regional Rural New South Wales and ACT Achievements Award 2007.
Senator Siewert's incorrect statements have damaged the good name of the LFAA and
caused me and other members of the organisation significant distress.
(Signed)
Barry Williams
See how he hides behind the membership of SOME women in his group. Just who are these women Barry? 2nd wives and grandmothers who are intent on fighting the battle for the husband and the bullying sons? One only has to read the ANTI MOTHER sentiment that is rife on www.familylawwebguide.com.au to see what his opinion is about mothers.
Now here are some comments from Barry Williams and the SPCA and close friends of his. These are definite Anti Gay and Anti woman sentiments. Why wasn't he frank and forthright about his opinions?
"Basically, homosexual men, feeling inadequate in their own masculinity,
admire masculine qualities in others and seek to absorb them through
sexual union."
"Homosexual, lesbian and bisexual young people
were at increased risks of major depression, generalized anxiety
disorder, conduct disorder, nicotine dependence, multiple disorders,
suicidal ideation and suicide attempts." Hang on Barry weren't you spouting in Noos (terrible name that!) that it was separated and divorced men that have to pay Child Support that are committing suicide???
"Statements by some women’s rights groups
Some womens rights' groups have already indicated that they will strenuously oppose the rebuttable presumption of shared parenting,
claiming that children and mothers will under such a regime be at risk of violence from their fathers.
Our comment on that position that it is, indeed, extremely important that children should be protected from violent adults, including
parents. However, that is a powerful argument for having a rebuttable presumption of joint parenting, not an argument against it.
The issues of violence needs to be properly analysed and understood by defining who is actually committing most abuse against
children. The sad facts are that the leading abusers of children are mothers and their de facto boyfriends. An Australian Health and
Welfare Report shows that most substantiated abuse takes place in single parent households, followed by blended family households.
In the case of sexual abuse, children are least likely to abused by their biological father, and in fact less than 1% of this type of abuse
is attributable to biological fathers. The problem lies in sole parent families, not in joint parent families."
"
Part of Williams’s brief as head of his Association is to promote the view that men are as much victims of domestic violence as women. This is a persistent theme in his newsletters. All victims of domestic violence deserve support services, regardless of gender, and all perpetrators deserve appropriate handling via the criminal justice system. Anything that encourages male victims of domestic violence to be more open about their experiences is worthwhile and complements the aims of the men’s health ambassadors program.
But Williams goes to extremes in his advocacy for male victims of domestic violence. In 2006, he was a co-signatory of a response to "the anti-male UN report on 'Violence against women'", which argued that reporting of domestic violence was biased against men, including several claims that women are greater perpetrators of domestic violence than men -- such as "a recent international study of severe violence among dating couples, 55% was mutual violence, 16% was male only, and 29% of violence was female only."
Saliently, the response also claimed that domestic violence programs "have been shown to result in widespread violations of due process protections... weaken families, bias divorce proceedings, and deprive children of contact from their fathers." That statement goes beyond advocating for male domestic violence victims. Way beyond."
"Not that Williams is entirely the cleanskin about gay and lesbian issues that his comments make him out to be. The Lone Fathers’ Association has given space to Marsh in its newsletters to promote his views on “gender disorientation pathology” and criticise attempts to end discrimination against same-s-x couples as "evil". Williams himself has criticised same-sex couples as unable to provide appropriate “mental and moral development” for children and unequal to heteros-xual couples."
"
- ArtemisThursday, 27 November 2008 11:55:00 PM
- Barry Williams is Vice President of the Shared Parenting Council who have a definite anti gay stance if you do some proper research. They are also anti women although they will tolerate and use the second wives of men to further their own cause. Their website is www.familylawwebguide.com.au
Some quotes from some key members of S.P.C.A.:
"A man wanting/having sex with another males is first and foremost a homosexual- and if the other male is a boy it also paedohilia. Once you break one of Gods commands-like no homosexuality- then the others follow, paedophilia, incest, bestiality, sex involving defecation and urination etc. All manner of perversions."
"There can't be a better illustration of the massive impact of the homosexual propaganda and the extent of the control it has over the media"
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