“You have to meet this man.” My friend’s voice carried that strong tone halfway between a plea and a command. “Llew is a man on a mission. He is passionate to help the men, children and families of Australia. Better still he is a member of Federal Parliament.”

David really got my attention, and for many different reasons.

You see, my friend David Maywald is the acclaimed author of a brilliant book called The Relentless War on Masculinity – Does it Ever End.

I had written about David’s book in an article on Dads4kids by the same name. “David incisively diagnoses the challenges facing men and boys across Western societies. More importantly, he provides hope and a way forward.”

We got through the security, and we walked into David’s office in Parliament House Canberra. We opened the door and this big burly mans hand reached out and gripped my hand in a way that told me this man meant business.

Prior to his election, Llew O’Brien served as a police officer for 16 years, earning several medals for his distinguished service. He had big biceps for a man in his early fifties. I later learned he was a practitioner of mixed martial arts and a regular gym-goer.

Frank Abagnale said, “A real man loves his wife and places his family as the most important thing in life. Nothing has brought me more peace and contentment in life than simply being a good husband and father.”

This quote sums up O’Brien well. Llew lives and breathes his family. He is deeply in love with his wife, and he speaks about his kids like there is no tomorrow. He is refreshing to be around.

Llew showed me a fantastic video clip of him and Sharon, his wife, riding back from Parliament House in Canberra to Maryborough, Queensland on his Triumph motorbike. They literally rode through fire, rain and hailstones.

Sharon works with David in Parliament House as a volunteer. She is unfortunately not permitted to be paid. Llew and Sharon believe in the adage: “The family that works together stays together.” Given that the divorce rate among parliamentarians is higher than the general population, this is a wise move.

David Maywald sent his book on men and boys to every Federal Parliamentarian in Australia. He told me that Llew invited him into Parliament in Canberra to discuss his new book during the standard 30-minute appointment. Two hours later, they were still talking.

After we met with Llew, we met with the new leader of the National Party, Matt Canavan. Thankfully, they were in the planning stages of announcing an official parliamentary position within the Coalition shadow ministry to advocate for men.

At that stage, this appointment was top secret, and they had not decided on the name. David and I both said fervently, “Men and boys have to be in the title. Yes, men are struggling, but so are boys. We must help them both.”

Imagine our joyous surprise when, a month later, the Coalition announced Llew O’Brien MP as Shadow Special Envoy for Men and Boys.

Llew O’Brien said upon his appointment,

“Men’s health and mental health are enormous issues. Men die younger from preventable diseases and at much higher rates of suicide, which means men, their families and Australia are losing too many potentially happy and productive years of life.

“Advocacy for women’s issues is inspiring, and, like the wonderful work addressing disadvantage for women and girls, Australia cannot accept a business-as-usual approach to male disadvantage in policy areas such as life expectancy, chronic disease, suicide and education.”

Leader of the Nationals Matt Canavan said, “Men and boys are facing real challenges in all aspects of life, such as health, family law, education and the workforce. Yet too often, these issues go unaddressed in public debate.”

I could not agree more. In an article about to be released in mainstream media about the Gender Life Gap, O’Brien said,

“Whilst men die younger, carry a greater burden of premature death and are overwhelmingly overrepresented in suicide statistics, they are too often absent from targeted policy responses.

“The life expectancy gap between men and women — 79 years compared with 84 —tells only part of the story.

“A major driver of this burden is suicide. Of the 3,307 Australians who died by suicide in 2024, 2,529 were men — more than 75 per cent. Last year, the number of men and boys who died by suicide was almost double the number of people killed on our roads. That makes suicide one of the clearest gendered policy challenges in the country.

“Yet the recently released 10-year National Suicide Prevention Strategy, whilst acknowledging the troubling statistics for men, does not provide a population-wide, male-targeted response. The minister’s foreword does not even mention male suicide. That suggests that, as a society, we still have not made male suicide prominent enough in our national conversation, nor given it the urgent focus it demands.”

Llew O’Briens summation is impeccable.

Later that day, I gave Llew O’Brien an original copy of the Dads4Kids 12Pt Plan, released in Federal Parliament in 2003. People mocked us then when we suggested an office or ministry for men and fathers.

Thankfully, Dads4Kids was ahead of its time. Both the government and the opposition in both federal and some state parliaments now have such positions. As Arthur Schopenhauer said, “Every original idea is first ridiculed, then vigorously attacked, and finally taken for granted.”

Lovework

As I have said, Llew O’Brien is a man on a mission. “A real man,” as Frank Abagnale says, “loves his wife and places his family as the most important thing in life.” The world needs thousands of men like him. Will you be one?

Yours for more real men,

Warwick Marsh