Dads lost in
cloud cuckold land
- Babette Francis Herald Sun, 5 September 2006
Fathers' Day is happy for most, but for some is a day of anguish
- fathers whose children have died due to illness or accidents,
and fathers who do not have contact with their children because
of divorce. In this latter group there is a sub-section whose grief
is compounded by paternity fraud - fathers who have been cuckolded,
have been deceived by wives into believing the children were theirs,
when these children were fathered by other men. "Cuckold"
is derived from the cuckoo which places its eggs in the nests of
other birds.
The plight of one such father is being considered by our High Court.
Liam Magill married Meredith McClelland in April 1988, their first
child was born in April 1989, their second child in July 1990 and
their third child in November 199l.
In November 1992 Meredith left the family home taking the three
children with her, saying she was not happy. Two days later she
applied for child support for all three children. Liam and Meredith
were divorced in February 1998.
Liam paid 32% of his gross salary from 24th Nov 1992 until he could
no longer work in September 1999. At one stage the Child Support
Agency (CSA) left Liam $132 a week to survive on - later increased
to $200 a week. On this meagre amount he had to cover living expenses
and weekend access visits of the three children. Financially crippled,
Liam could not cope, suffered a deep depression and has been unable
to work since 1999.
And that's where Liam's story might have ended - another victim
of "no fault" divorce, and a pawn of the CSA. However,
in February 1999 Liam met Cheryl King who has been his tenacious
friend and adviser since.
Like me, Cheryl loathes injustice. She urged Liam to get the children
DNA tested - this process took almost a year. In March 2000 the
tests showed the two youngest were not his. Meredith told the children
immediately that her friend, Derek R. was their father, even though
he was not tested for another 17 months.
In 2002 Liam sued his ex-wife for damages caused by deceit and in
November 2002 Victorian County Court. Judge Hanlon awarded him $70,000
in damages, excluding child support payments he had made.
In December 2002, Meredith's legal team funded by the Victorian
Women's Legal Service (i.e. taxpayers) appealed Judge Hanlon's decision.
The appeal was heard in November 2004 and in March 2005 the Victorian
Supreme Court of Appeal allowed Meredith to win on a technicality.
In mid 2004, prior to the hearing of Meredith's appeal, Derek
R. and his wife moved to Southport, Queensland. Cheryl considers
the CSA has not done enough to make Derek pay for his two children,
or to refund the payments made for years by Liam Magill.
In November 2005, permission was given for Liam's Appeal against
the Victorian Supreme Court of Appeal to be heard by the High Court.
The High Court Appeal was heard in April 2006: the decision has
not been handed down yet.
Some issues remain unresolved. Why has the CSA not refunded the
money extracted from Liam Magill for children he did not father?
Why has the CSA not obtained these arrears from the biological father?
And why are we taxpayers, through the feminist Victorian Women's
Legal Service involved in helping an unfaithful wife defraud her
husband? Paternity fraud is not merely financial but goes to the
heart of relationships between husband, wife and children. The feminist
attitude seems to be that described in Helen Garner's book, 'The
First Stone' about a case of sexual harassment: "He may not
be guilty but other men are so he has to pay".
I hope Premier Bracks, Attorney General Hulls and Federal Minister
Joe Hockey, who oversee the CSA, had a happy Father's Day and will
end the victimisation of Liam Magill, perhaps by establishing a
Men's Legal Service for victims of paternity fraud.
babette@endeavourforum.org.au
