“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere,” are the famous words of a letter penned by civil rights campaigner Martin Luther King, Jr from inside an American jail. He went on to write, “We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.”

John Stapleton, a highly respected journalist and Australian children’s rights campaigner, has not been to jail yet in his fight for justice for children and Australian families, but he could well have written those words.

I first met John when he was running Dads On The Air, the longest-running Dads radio program in the world. John was one of the early founders in 2000.

John Stapleton has just released a 603-page book exposing the 50-year disaster of Australia’s Family Law Act, which came into existence in 1975. My words on the back cover of FAILURE: Family Law Reform Australia are as follows: “This is a brilliant, comprehensive book that highlights the havoc the Family Law and the Child Support systems have inflicted on the families and the children of our nation.” Check out an interview I did with John Stapleton below.

John is a long-time supporter of Dads4Kids and a dear friend. Three times during the above interview, John Stapleton was on the edge of tears. Halfway through the interview, we were both overcome with tears at the trauma the diabolical family law system inflicts on the children and fathers of Australia.

I was profoundly impressed with the fact that John Stapleton’s heart had not become hard and calloused in his over-three-decade fight against the injustice of the family law system. It is very hard to fight evil, without evil penetrating your own heart. Thankfully, John has succeeded. I hope I am the same!

Fighting for Fairness

You might say, “Warwick, I am happily married, so I don’t need to know about this wicked family law system.”

I still encourage you to at least get a rudimentary idea for three reasons.

Firstly, understanding how viciously anti-male the whole system is will ensure that you keep loving your wife and looking after her like there is no tomorrow. For many men, the heartbreak of false accusations and losing their children in the Family Law Court means adding themselves to the burgeoning male suicide statistics. Sadly, the line ‘no tomorrow’ is not rhetorical.

Secondly, you are a voter in a wonderful democracy, and your vote can make a difference in the upcoming election due by 17 May 2025. The current Labor Government arrogantly rejected every single one of our points in the 28-page Dads4Kids Senate submission to make the new laws fairer for separating Australian families. Read the submission for yourself. See the Dads4Kids main video and our Dads’ question video from the Senate hearing. You be the judge!

Thirdly, you might have friends who are going through the Family Law Court’s mincing machine, either now, or in the future. Then you will remember that someone has written a comprehensive book about the evils of the Family Law system, and you can refer people to John Stapleton’s book or the video.

Rave Reviews

Let me present the comments of two highly respected commentators. Both are highly valued in their individual fields.

Professor of Law Dr Augusto Zimmerman has described John Stapleton’s book as a seminal work on the subject. He continues,

“After reading Failure: Family Law Reform Australia, it is simply not possible to disagree from its author that established as a ‘progressive’ social reform of the Whitlam Labor government, the Family Law Act of 1975 is ‘The most impactful and destructive legislation to ever pass the Parliament’. It is hard indeed to imagine the amount of pain and suffering this legislation has created.

However, this book doesn’t offer easy solutions, and Stapleton seems more intent on autopsy than prescription. But it is a compelling elegy for a system that has failed its people, and a challenge to rethink how Australia handles its most intimate fractures. Stapleton is an excellent writer and his latest book a sobering tale of institutional overreach, human cost, and a democracy too timid to fix its own messes.

It truly is an important book that demands a proper response, and I thoroughly recommend it to all those with enough compassion and emotional fortitude for doing so.”

Bettina Arndt has done a brilliant video interview, quite different to mine, with John Stapleton. Bettina is a well-known author and men’s rights activist extraordinaire and had this to say in her article, “Failed Family Court Reform“:

“And then came Albanese who, without any mandate whatsoever, last year removed almost every mention of children’s relationship with fathers.

So, it goes on, with every year bringing fresh legislation or new policies making life tougher for so many separating families – whilst the lawyers line their pockets. The role of the legal profession in this whole mess deserves special mention, with so many encouraging antagonism between separating couples and sometimes even suggesting the use of false allegations, and using their power and influence to stack committees and tilt inquiries to ensure women are given every possible advantage including free legal aid, whilst driving men to the wall.

It is vitally important that the story of the corruption and decline of this vital institution is on the public record, and John Stapleton has done our society a major service in making this available.”

Lovework

Consider buying your own copy of  John Stapleton’s new book, FAILURE: Family Law Reform Australia.  Forewarned is forearmed. The words of Martin Luther King are true: “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” We need to speak up about these matters for the common good. Together, we can make a difference.

Yours for Our Children,
Warwick Marsh

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Republished with thanks to Dads4Kids.