Introduction
The Australian Better Families party was established in 2018 as the political arm of the Australian Brotherhood of Fathers.
Erikson began a "#21fathers" movement, based on the discredited claim by Barry Williams and Sue Price that 21 men Australian commit suicide each week because of family law issues such as child support and domestic violence orders. [7] [8] At a 2017 International Women's Day at the Gold Coast, Queensland, Erikson contested the existence of a gender pay gap in Australia and suggested that the unequal numbers of men and women in high positions of business and government was due to merit and not bias. [9]
Pauline Hanson's One Nation party has supported the Australian Better Families party by hosting party events and providing the party founders with a social media connection to One Nation party members. [10] [11]
Seven party members were candidates in the 2019 Australian federal election. Jewell Drury and Peter Moujalli were senate candidates for New South Wales; Darren Cauldfield, Adam Finch and Rodney Fox for Queensland; and Gregory Beck for Tasmania. Graham McFarland contested the Division of Greenway. None succeeded. [12] [13]
Between 2018 to 2020, Paul Gleeson was elected to the Redland City Council. [14]
Policy
The party's founder, Leith Erikson, is a men's rights activist. [15] His party suggests there should exist a government portfolio named Minister for Men. [16] [17] The party rejects the classification of domestic violence as a gendered issue. [18]
The Australian Better Families advocates governmental policy reform in the areas of domestic violence, child support and family law in favour of fathers. [5] [19] In 2020, the Australian Brotherhood of Fathers submitted the idea of a low-risk domestic violence category to Senate. [20] The inquiry has targeted the issue of women filing false domestic violence claims, which is also a focus of the Australian Brotherhood of Fathers. [21] [22] The Brotherhood have advocated a series of public awareness campaigns attempting to shed light on this issue in the modern legal system, including #donotconsent and #notyourright. [23] #donotconsent campaign encouraged individuals served with a notice to appear in court to answer a Domestic Violence Order, Apprehended Violence Order, Violence Restraining Order or an Instant Offense, to refuse to consent to the order without the matter going to trial. #notyourright emphasises the financial and emotional burden on parents when access to children is limited by abuse allegations and child support payments.
The domestic violence system in Australia is criticised for being biased towards female victims by the Australian Better Families Party social media and in the party constitution. [24] Family Law changes are among the party's reform proposals; the party advocates zero tolerance to family and domestic violence, emphasising the inclusion of male victims. [25] Leith Erikson is a board member of End all Domestic Violence (Endalldv); a small charity based in Robina Queensland that offers services across Australia. [26] The charity provides services and support to domestic violence victims of all ages, gender and sexualities.
The introduction of a Minister for Men in Australia has been scheduled as a target by the Australian Better Families party. [25] Pauline Hanson has also expressed support for an Australian Minister for Men, submitting in a press release that "the plight of Australian boys and men is on the decline". [27] The proposed Minister for Men would be responsible for ensuring that national male health and education programs are maintained with a dedicated ministerial portfolio for men. Australian Better Families intend this as a complement to the existing Minister for Women, who has historically championed subjects of female empowerment. [28]
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