Wagga City Council to vote to withdraw grant funding from Men Talking with Men event

The Men's Health Tool Box meeting first came under scrutiny due to the involvement of guest speaker Clarrie Holden, who is the founder of Father's Rights Australia.

Mr Holden is running a class action against the Family Court and is campaigning to abolish domestic violence orders, which he believes are unfair to men and are used mostly by "scorned exes".

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Council approved grant funding for the event in May, but mayor Greg Conkey questioned some of the information in the grant application.

"The funding application that came to council, and which was endorsed at the 10 May Ordinary Meeting, stated the event was being run under the auspices of Centacare, a condition of this funding application," Cr Conkey said in a statement.

"Council has received confirmation today that the Men's Health Toolbox event is not being auspiced by the organisation Centacare Southwest NSW."

Councillors are expected to vote on Tuesday to decide whether to withhold the grant amount of $2274, which has not yet been paid out.

A Centacare spokesperson said the organisation was unaware the funding application included the statement "this event funding will be auspiced by Centacare Southwest NSW".

The grant application did, however, contain a list of speakers that would be attending the event, including Mr Holden.

Promotional posters for the event list Centacare, Wagga City Council, GIO and Murrumbidgee Local Health District as supporters of the Men's Health Week event.

However, a Murrumbidgee Local Health District spokesperson said they had never given permission for them to be listed as a supporter, nor use their logo for advertising purposes.

"Murrumbidgee Local Health District did not authorise use of the MLHD logo or acknowledgment as a supporter of the Men Talking With Men event," the spokesman said.

"MLHD has not made any contribution to the event and has requested the organisers remove reference to Murrumbidgee Local Health District from all advertising materials."

The Daily Advertiser was unsuccessful in repeated attempts to contact event organiser Gary Witt for comment on Friday.

A GIO spokesperson said their support for the event "remains under review".

Cr Conkey said Mr Holden's views ran contrary to the values held by Wagga City Council.

"Given the issues being raised were that the speaker is negative towards apprehended domestic violence orders and domestic violence victims and their situations that are real in Wagga Wagga, this would be in direct conflict with council's Equity and Respect project and does not align with the organisation's public commitment to addressing domestic violence in our community," Cr Conkey said.

On Thursday, Mr Witt said he was only trying to advocate for men's mental health, but feared that the event might have to be cancelled due to the public backlash.

"We're here trying to save lives in town, and this has just about crushed the show," Mr Witt said.

"I'm feeling broken."

Cr Vanessa Keenan, who is involved with project DV2650 and other anti-domestic-violence campaigns, said she was horrified to learn about Mr Holden's involvement in the Men's Week event.

"I'm not against men's mental health events - I think they're critical and very important - [but not] when they're hijacked by people with ... views that are in opposition to council policy," Cr Keenan said.

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