THE High Court will today consider whether to hear an appeal by a mother who has been forced by the Family Court to stay with her daughter in a remote mining town in western Queensland because her ex-husband does not want to move.

Notice that the way in which this issue is presented subtly implies victimhood for the mother, and that the father is restricting the freedom of the mother.

This is how the issue has generally shaken out everywhere  the issue comes up.  It illustrates, in my opinion, how very few really get the true issue, and that is that talking about best interest of children outside the context of parental rights leads to difficulties, almost every time.

Shared parenting is under attack wherever it has been instituted.  I believe it’s fair to say that the entire effort has been a waste of time.  The issue should have been from the very start that this is my child, and the state can butt out.    As to divorce, one of the issues that the commentator Stephen Baskerville has pointed out repeatedly is that if someone leaves the relationship, that should be it.  they leave the family.

via Stranded mother goes to High Court | The Australian.