Child-hiding dad wants court changes

To all,

This man is a fire brand!!

He's planning his moves carefully

He has acheived more in a few days that all of us have over years and years!!

Regards,
Simon Hunt
Mornington
Phone: +61 (0)3 5973 6933
Mobile: 0414 415 693
vascopajama@dodo.com.au
http://mumsdadsandkidsagainstsolecust.blogspot.com/
http://thefamilycourtphenomenon.blogspot.com/
email@dashlite.com.au

Equal time parenting after separation - the solution that removes the problem.

The Sydney Morning Herald
5 May 2007

Child-hiding dad wants court changes
http://www.smh.com.au/news/National/Childhiding-Dad-wants-court-changes/2007/05/05/1177788469291.html

AAP - The father who sparked a nationwide search for his children when he
failed to return them from an access visit plans to campaign for courts to
better honour the rights of children.

Murray Robertson, 59, created national headlines this week when he gave
himself up to police after being on the run with his three children for six
weeks.

The children, Bokkie, 10, Matilda, nine and seven-year-old Barney have
since been reunited with their mother, Philippa Yelland.

Mr Robertson handed himself in to police in Launceston last Thursday after
The Family Court took the unusual step of publicly naming his children and
releasing their photographs.

Speaking from Tasmania, Mr Robertson said he would go to the Family Court
in Melbourne on Monday to appeal to the chief justice to give greater
credence to the wishes of children.

He said he had been given a "rare opportunity" by the events of the last
week to speak for the hundreds of thousands of children at the centre of
custody disputes, and accused the courts of "over simplification" by asking
children to choose between parents.

"This is not about custody," Mr Robertson told AAP.

"The children put me second on their list. Number one on their list is
their home, their friends, their school, the waterfalls and camping spots
nearby. That is where they want to be."

Mr Robertson said courts failed to adhere to the International Convention
on the Rights of the Child, to which Australia was a signatory.

He said guidelines issued by the Family Court for child representatives
were also ignored by the legal fraternity.

"Either one parent or another is given custody, and the children then
become effectively a prisoner of that parent," he said.

"If that parent wishes to ... they are given an absolute right to enforce
everything that they want to and the child still has no right."

Admitting he had "no idea" when he would next see his children, Mr
Robertson said he had received widespread support over his actions of the
last week.

He denied being a member of the religious movement The Family, but
confirmed he had attended its church services and had friends in the group.

He said he planned to take his message to Canberra and Brisbane after
campaigning outside the Family Law Courts in Melbourne on Monday.