The Father's Day I never Imagined - Justice for Baby Alex

The Father’s Day I Never Imagined — Justice for Baby Alex

Last weekend was Father’s Day.

I looked at this cup holder sitting in front of me.

“IT’S A DAD’S LIFE.”

I had always imagined what my first Father’s Day would be like.

I imagined taking my little one to the beach.

I imagined a day at the park.

Or maybe we would go to the aquarium, to see schools and schools of fishes with octopuses and turtles before finishing off the day over dinner with my first Father's Day cake. 

There were so many versions of fatherhood I had imagined.

I imagined chasing a little toddler who refused to sit still.

I imagined the screaming, mischievous “terrible twos.”

I imagined sleepless nights, dirty nappies, toys everywhere and a sticky, smelly little munchkin climbing all over me.

But I never imagined empty arms.

I never imagined sitting here on Father’s Day, looking at the words “It’s a Dad’s Life”, writing an update for a petition asking strangers to help us fight for justice for my child.

I knew he came into our lives.

And then, all of a sudden he was gone.

There are clothes he will never wear.

There is an empty cot he will never sleep in.

There are milestones we will never get to photograph.

There will be no first word. No first step. No first day of school.

And there are arms that were waiting to hold him that are now empty.

This is the Father’s Day I never imagined.

But grief is not where Alex’s story is going to end.

Our family alleges that the violence which preceded Alex’s death followed an unlawful intrusion onto our property orchestrated by a neighbour and their strata. The strata complex behind us had numerous demolition orders for illegal constructions, part of which were sitting inside our boundaries belonging to us but being illegally occupied by them! We had never imagined they would take what was originally council breaches and environmental enforcement/ demolition orders to an extreme magnitude of criminal events and violent crimes on innocent neighbours. Neighbour whose land they coveted.

We continue to seek a proper investigation, accountability for those responsible, and scrutiny of the institutional failures we believe allowed our family to be failed.

We have now decided to take our fight for Alex to the next level.

We will be approaching Members of Parliament, Australian and international media, Victims’ Advocates, Justice and Human Rights Organisations, government oversight bodies and other authorities capable of helping us pursue accountability.

We are also preparing to pursue every appropriate legal avenue available to us, including proceedings in the higher courts where our legal advice supports doing so.

The financial consequences have been enormous. We will therefore be launching crowdfunding to help fund the legal and advocacy fight for Alex, strengthen our family’s safety and security, and help us rebuild the lives that were shattered.

We remain deeply concerned for our safety because the people we allege were responsible have not been brought before a court over what happened.

But we are still here.

And we are not going away.

I couldn’t spend my first Father’s Day with Alex.

So I spent it fighting for him.

And I will keep fighting for him.

Until his story is heard.

Until the evidence is heard.

Until those responsible are held accountable through the justice system.

Until there is Justice for Baby Alex.

If you believe Alex deserves justice, please sign this petition, share it, and ask one other person to do the same. Every signature makes it harder for his story to be ignored.