Interview with father of Guantanamo Bay inmate David Hicks, Dads On The Air, 27 February, 2007.

Show: 27 February 2007 Interviewing: Terry Hicks, A special father who loves his child unconditionally, and has dedicated his life to help protect his son David Hicks, from harm and appeals for “a fair go”  for his child.              Click here (MP3)     

Terry Hicks, father of David Hicks is this Tuesday’s (27/2) guest on Dads 
on the Air.

http://www.dadsontheair.net 

Dads On The Air
Tuesday 27 February 2007 2GLF FM 89.3 11.00-12.00am and ONLINE

mailto: [email protected]

A reborn Dads On The Air is going from strength to strength, interviewing 
high profile guests and positioning itself as one of the leading fatherhood 
radio programs in the world. Don’t miss our interview with Terry Hicks on 
the 27th.

DOTA is already the world’s longest running father’s issue related show. 
Recent guests have included one of the world’s leading commentators on 
gender issues, Warren Farrell, author of Father and Child Reunion and The 
Myth of Male Power. If you missed it, the last show for 2006 featured a 
moving interview with father of the year Ron Delezio, who’s unwavering 
support for his seriously injured daughter Sophie has been inspirational. 

On the 27th we interview Terry Hicks, who through no fault of his own has 
become perhaps Australia’s most famous father. His unwavering support for 
his imprisoned son David has brought him widespread sympathy. 

If you are in Sydney the show can be heard live across much of the city at 
2glf fm 89.3

It can also be heard via live streaming at www.893fm.com.au

Failing that, the show can be downloaded from the site www.dadsontheair.net

Unlike previous times, where there were extensive delays before the shows 
became available, our programs are now usually up on the web within 24 
hours of broadcast.

We encourage participation from groups and individuals around Australia. 
Press releases, public notices and other material for broadcast can be sent to: 

[email protected] or to [email protected]

Terry‘s son David has been rotting in one of the world’s worst prisons, 
Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, for the past five years, without trial, mentally 
tortured through isolation and quite possibly physically tortured as well. 
Captured by the Americans in Afghanistan for allegedly acting as a foot 
soldier for the Taliban, one of the reasons PM John Howard gave for not 
tring to get David Hicks returned to Australia was that he could not be 
charged here because he had not committed a crime against Australian law. 
Howard’s abandonment of an Australian citizen has blown up in his face, 
with increasing outrage across the counry over the fact that Hicks has been 
held for so long without even being charged. We will also talk with some of 
those who are campaigning to bring him home.

Throughout the past five years Terry Hicks has never once given up on his 
son. Whatever your politics, whatever you think of David Hick’s past 
life, Terry‘s nobility and loyalty to his son in enormously difficult 
circumstances, have shone through. David Hick’s mistreatment at the hands 
of the Americans, supposedly in the name of freedom and democracy, long ago 
became a civil rights issue for the left, but sympathy for him has now 
become widespread. Howard’s conduct in apparently condoning his detention 
under appalling circumstances has become an illustration of all that is 
wrong with the Iraq War and Australia’s embarrassing involvement in what is 
now widely regarded as an immoral, unethical and sadly mistaken misadventure.

BACKGROUND

The Dads On The Air website is www.dadsontheair.net

Dads On The Air is one of the most successful community radio program in 
Australia. It is archived by the National Library of Australia and for 
researchers represents the most extensive collection of information on the 
push for family law and child support reform in Australia. It also 
documents the history of the fatherhood movement in Australia and 
internationally and provides a fascinating insight into mainstream 
society’s shifting attitudes towards fathers and fatherhood. Through it’s 
often active forums it can also offer a rare window into the sometimes raw 
emotions of those badly impacted by state systems ostensibly created to 
protect their children.

The program began with a small group of disgruntled separated men in 
August, 2000 and has since gone on to attract a team of people with 
extensive journalistic, entertainment and internet experience. Dads On The 
Air is registered as a not-for-profit group with the NSW Department of Fair 
Trading. The show played a pivotal role in the debate over family law 
reform, acting as a conduit for groups and individuals who could not get 
their voices heard in the mainstream media. As the years have passed Dads 
On The Air has widened its focus to cover broader social issues concerning 
parenthood and gender issues and to promote a positive view of fathers and 
fatherhood.

The program has attracted leading politicians, authors and lobbyists both 
from Australia and around the world. Guests have included the Attorney 
General Phillip Ruddock, Chief Justice of the Family Court of Australia 
Diana Bryant, head of the family law inquiry Kay Hull, author of The Myth 
of Male Power Warren Farrell, UK writer and academic Barry Warrell of 
Without Authority fame, outspoken academic Stephen Baskerville, researchers 
from the University of Western Sydney Michael Woods and John MacDonald, and 
lobbyists including founder of F4J Matt O’Connor, Sue Price from MRA, 
Warwick Marsh from the Fatherhood Foundation, Richar’ Farr from KRights 
Radio and columnist and broadcaster Glen Sacks – amongst many many others.

The studio for Dads On The Air is located at the offices of 2GLF in 
Liverpool in western Sydney. The station 2GLF is one of the oldest 
community radio stations in Australia. It was amongst the first tranch of 
four community radio stations that were established by Gough Whitlam during 
the 1970s, a time of great social ferment and change in Australia. From the 
establishment of the first four there are now more than 130 community radio 
stations around Australia, a unique opportunity for local people to have 
their say and in international terms a rare instance of democracy at work. 

Dads On The Air can be heard on Tuesday mornings 11.00-12.00 at 2GLF FM 
89.3 in Sydney Australia and depending on the quality of your radio can be 
heard from the mountains in the west to the coast in the east. While 
they’re not all listening, it has a footprint of more than two million 
people across the demographic heart of Australia’s most populous city.

The show is usually up on the website later the same week in an easily 
downloadable MP3 format.

An entertaining mix of music, news, public information and wide ranging 
interviews aimed at fathers and those who care about them, the show covers 
issues concerning fatherhood, the Family Court, the Child Support Agency, 
Legal Aid, child welfare, boys education, male suicide, men’s health, 
gender bias and other father, children and family related issues.

http://www.dadsontheair.net/
SOME COMMENTARY:
John.  Some feedback FYI.  Lindsay Jackel

David Hicks left his children to be supported by taxpayers (that’s the rest of us) while he went off playing soldier. Never sent a cent, seldom, if even, contacted them. A dead-beat father if ever there is one. The type of person who is responsible for the general public perception that most “absent” fathers are like that.
Now of course he wants to see his children because it is tactically expedient to so do. Never mind the tens of thousands of decent, loving, responsible fathers who never, or seldom, see their kids, let’s get poor old DH back with his.
David Hick’s maternal grandfather has stepped into the breech, both as a “father-figure”, and to the limited extent possible, financially. What about asking him and the struggling mother what they think of poor old DH? Or even the kids, subjected to derision at school because of their father’s derelict behaviour.
Why haven’t the hordes donating so much money to poor old DH give enough to the truly innocent victims in this matter to enable them to buy a house in another area, go to a school where they aren’t known, etc? Oh yes, that’s right, that would go some real good but not villify JH, and we can’t have that, can we?
I find it hard to think of a less appropriate person to be championed on DOTA than DH.
LL


RESPONSE

yes there’s definitely some negative comments flying around.
from angles i would never have thought of.
anyway; at least we’re topical!
and personally i think it’s good to be expanding out from simply
railing against the system.
anyway, all grist to the mill. hope you’re well. regards. john.