This morning we read that former Prime Minister Julia Gillard is taking "legal advice" about our second TV ad, 'Motherless Generation'. See coverage HERE.
If this lawyer and seasoned politician thinks that some legal sabre-rattling is going to make AMF roll up into a ball, she is mistaken.
We will not, of course, accept “more censorship” of a vital debate on the rights of the child, and we reaffirm our message in the media release below, sent at midday:
If Ms Gillard really meant it when she said “the bond between a mother and her baby” is “the most primal and sacred bond there is” then she should appreciate the seriousness of our ad’s message: that we must not break that “primal and sacred bond” a second time by instituting marriage without a woman, which creates families without a mother...
We expect that mothers and children who experienced the violation of the “primal bond between mother and child” through forced adoption might be the first to say, “don’t do it again! Don’t enact another policy that will break the primal and sacred bond between mother and child”.
MEDIA RELEASE SATURDAY 4 APRIL
Former PM Julia Gillard: “seeks legal advice” against latest AMF TV ad
Is this just the latest act of censorship of any voice against same-sex ‘marriage’?
Does Ms Gillard no longer believe her own words about “the most primal and sacred bond between a mother and her baby”?
Praise for Ms Gillard & the National Apology
As Fairfax papers published the story this morning, the President of the Australian Marriage Forum, Dr van Gend, asked, “Why is the former Prime Minister attacking an organisation that has consistently shown respect and affirmation for the National Apology for Forced Adoption and for Ms Gillard’s role in it?”
“As President of the Australian Marriage Forum I have called the apology “noble” and Ms Gillard’s words “beautiful” and “moving”. For instance in my article at Online Opinion on 23 March:
“The second anniversary of the National Apology for Forced Adoptions, March 21st, should not have gone unnoticed. It was a noble moment in 2013 when our then Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, spoke movingly about “the most primal and sacred bond there is: the bond between a mother and her baby”.
Dr van Gend reports that he was informed by email on Thursday afternoon by Fairfax media:
Former Prime Minister Julia Gillard has confirmed to the Canberra Times that she is seeking legal advice after her words were misused and taken out of context in the AMF’s Motherless Generation TV advertisement… Will you remove it and stop broadcast?
Dr van Gend replied to Fairfax on Thursday, “Of course we will not remove it or stop broadcast. This is an intelligent contribution to an important national debate.
“No words were misused or taken out of context.
“The former Prime Minister’s words were given their precise context in our ad, and were used in a respectful and serious manner in the public interest as part of the current debate on marriage and the rights of the child”.
View the ad: https://youtu.be/m_siQWMK3mc
The bond between mother and child was broken, and we have apologised:
The most primal and sacred bond there is - the bond between a mother and her baby.
The primal bond between mother and child would be broken again
if we institute marriage without a woman,
which creates families without a mother.
Who will apologise to the Motherless Generation?
Not ‘out of context’
The ad quotes these words from Ms Gillard’s National Apology for Forced Adoption, given in the Great Hall of Parliament House, Canberra, on 21 March 2013:
“The most primal and sacred bond there is: the bond between a mother and her baby”.
An image of Ms Gillard at the National Apology is shown while she speaks those words and the following information is written on the screen:
The Hon Julia Gillard,
National Apology for Forced Adoption,
Parliament House Canberra, 21 March 2013
Dr van Gend said, “That spells out the exact context of her words. In addition, the opening image of our ad uses a newspaper headline from the occasion, ‘PM to apologise for forced adoptions’ along with an image of the former PM.
“How could our ad have been more diligent in specifying the context of the former Prime Minister’s words?” Dr van Gend asked. “So why this litigious reaction by Ms Gillard?”
Asked if AMF had sought permission to use the clip, Dr van Gend replied,
“The video clip was excerpted in accordance with the Parliamentary Website’s Conditions of Access, which can be read here: http://parlview.aph.gov.au/mediaPlayer.php?videoID=190367
“No further permission was required. Former Prime Ministers are being quoted and having excerpts of their speeches replayed all the time. This was our PM speaking in the People’s Hall of our Parliament, giving an apology on the people’s behalf, broadcast on a publicly funded government website that invites excerpts to be used in context. We did so, correctly and respectfully.”
The ‘Motherless Generation’ ad is the second in the AMF campaign, “Think of the Child”, which aims to re-frame the same-sex ‘marriage’ debate in terms of the rights of a child to have, where possible, both a mother and father - a right which is abolished by same-sex ‘marriage’.
The ad was broadcast on WIN in Canberra and Hobart on Sunday 29 March – but controversially pulled without warning by Channel 9 from the 6pm news bulletin in all other capital cities. See media release for the launch HERE and when Channel 9 pulled it HERE.
Hurtful? Hypocritical?
Fairfax also informed AMF that Ms Gillard “believes the video is hurtful to victims of forced adoptions”.
Dr van Gend disagreed and replied to Fairfax:
We expect that mothers and children who experienced the violation of the “primal bond between mother and child” through forced adoption might be the first to say, “don’t do it again! Don’t enact another policy that will break the primal and sacred bond between mother and child”.
He added today, “I spoke last week with a friend of mine who was adopted, and whose birth mother was subject to the policy of forced adoption. She was very supportive of our ad, and did not find anything hurtful in it.
“Our ad clearly honours the National Apology and the ongoing grief that forced adoption caused to mothers and children; any attempt to portray our ad as hurtful is unreasonable and misses the compassionate purpose of our ad – that we are trying to prevent future hurt to children who will be forced to live without a mother.
“If Ms Gillard really meant it when she said “the bond between a mother and her baby” is “the most primal and sacred bond there is” then she should appreciate the seriousness of our ad’s message: that we must not break that “primal and sacred bond” a second time by instituting marriage without a woman, which creates families without a mother.
“That second violation, a policy allowing two men to marry and start a family, would surely be “hurtful” to future children who are forced to miss out on a mother”, Dr van Gend said, “and Ms Gillard would be hypocritical to apologise for the past violation while condoning the future violation”.
More censorship?
“The former PM’s attack on us would make more sense if she is now in fact a supporter of same-sex ‘marriage’, as her legal threats would be just another attempt to intimidate our side of this important public debate”, Dr van Gend said.
“That would be in keeping with the outrageous action of the taxpayer-funded broadcaster SBS in censoring our first ad on March 8th, and the uncivil action of many thousands of people who have petitioned to have our first ad removed from You Tube or to have Channel 7 and 9 apologise for broadcasting it.
“We will stand up to threats from our former Prime Minister just as we stood up to the abuse of power by SBS and the mob pressure to have our ads shut down.
“The debate over the consequences of homosexual ‘marriage’ for our culture, especially for our children, is too important to be silenced by anybody, even a former Prime Minister” Dr van Gend concluded.
END
Dr David van Gend
President, Australian Marriage Forum
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