Girls’ mother seeking mediation, High Court appeal


The mother of four girls in hiding to avoid flying to Italy to live with their father
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The mother of four girls caught up in an international custody dispute says she will today apply for a stay on Family Court orders requiring the girls’ return to Italy, and seek leave to appeal in the High Court.

The woman says she doesn’t know if the girls’ maternal grandmother, great-grandmother and aunt will comply with an order to answer questions under oath in a Brisbane court today.

The girls, aged nine, 10, 13 and 14, went into hiding with a relative after they were ordered to return to Italy with their father to resolve the custody dispute.

Their location remains unknown, and the mother insists she does not know where they are.

The girls’ great-grandmother has previously told reporters she is hiding the children and won’t comply with the order to attend court.

‘‘I’m not sure what is going to happen today,’’ the mother told Channel Nine’s The Today Show this morning.

She said she had not had any contact with the girls’ father, who has flown to Brisbane amid the custody dispute.

But she was considering seeking urgent mediation talks.

‘‘I might try and contact his lawyers to see if it’s possible to have a mediation today, this morning,’’ the mother said.

‘‘I hope he is open tor it for the sake of the girls so this can stop and they can be left alone, and we can settle back down and get on with our lives.’’

Yesterday, the children’s father released his first statement to the media, saying that he had previously not wished to comment on all that had occurred.

”I have always believed that I do not need to defend my dignity as a father and a person via the media,” he said.

”It is also because I have kept my faith in the justice systems and the courts of both Italy and Australia and I will continue to do so and I will abide by their decisions.”

The man described himself as ”just an ordinary person call up on for a great task” and said his role as a father was to defend and raise his children as well as he could, as his parents did for him.

”I love my children deeply and when one becomes a parent one accepts in total all the joys and sufferings that come with this responsibility,” he said.

In his statement, the father said his children had been born in Italy and lived there most of their lives.

”In Italy they have a strong and large family who love them and await them, their grandparents, uncles, aunts, and all their friends who for two years have not seen them and wait for them with open arms.

”Today many are asking what I think of my ex-wife and my daughters and their conduct in relation to what has been said about me.

”I express only sadness for the difficulities which they are currently experiencing.

”I ask my daughters to be strong and remember everything I have taught you. I am with you and I hope to hug you soon.”

In a call to the Seven Network this morning, the woman asked Environment Minister Tony Burke and shadow treasurer Joe Hockey, who were appearing on the Sunrise program, to help her get legal aid.

But both urged her to obey the Family Court order.

The mother said she didn’t know how much longer the girls could remain in hiding.

‘‘It’s very hard to be away from them, and I’m sure they’re missing me,’’ she said.

‘‘If they can hear me, I want to say I love them very much and stay strong.’’

AAP

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