David Maywald

Passionate about my family, sustainability, lifelong learning, and making a positive difference ☀ Board Member and Father ツ Thankful to live on Ngunnawal land

[David Maywald @DavidMaywald]

Last night St Thomas More Parish held their 21st Annual Dinner, and the speaker was His Eminence Cardinal Mykola Bychok from Melbourne. The main theme of this lecture was on the importance of families, to all areas of society. Cardinal Bychok also spoke about his close connections to the Catholic Church in Ukraine, which was very moving.

In October 1997, during a General Audience, Pope John Paul II said that “Whoever promotes the development of the family promotes the development of the person; whoever attacks the family attacks the person.” These words, spoken almost 30 years ago, are extremely relevant today. Today, when society is experiencing a profound moral crisis, it is precisely around the family and life that the decisive struggle for the human person and his dignity is unfolding.

The teachings of the Church have repeatedly emphasised that a strong family is the foundation of a healthy society. It is in the family that a person first discovers God, learns to pray, and learns to respect their neighbours, their native land, and their Church. All of this is part of the deep spiritual roots that the family passes on to its children. Therefore, the family is not just a “centre of formation” but a source of Christian tradition and spiritual continuity between generations.

His Eminence Cardinal Mykola Bychok was consecrated as a Bishop in 2020, and elevated to the dignity of a Cardinal in 2024 by His Holiness Pope Francis at St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican. His current role is to serve as Eparchy of Saints Peter and Paul of Melbourne for Ukrainian Catholics in Australia, New Zealand and Oceania.

This event held in the Inner North of Canberra was a sell-out, with a very diverse audience that appeared to be split equally to women and men. There was healthy discussion and debate, along with a warm reception.

[David Maywald @DavidMaywald]

Thank you to the News Corporation papers and journalists Darcy Fitzgerald, Susie O'Brien, Lauren Novak, and Will Paige for publishing a three-part series of articles on what it’s like being an Aussie boy in 2026, starting today with educating boys...

For too long, the struggles of boys and young men have been minimised, caricatured, or simply ignored. So it matters when major national media outlets take a serious look at the realities facing boys across education, parenting, culture, and online life.

The data are confronting. Boys lag girls across most educational indicators, are more likely to be suspended or expelled, more likely to be identified with disability or behavioural issues, more likely to disengage from school, and far less likely to commence university. Yet the simplistic story that boys are somehow “dumber, naughtier or more broken” does not withstand scrutiny.

Importantly, these articles move beyond blame. They explore biological and developmental differences, school culture, teaching approaches, student voices, and practical pathways forward. They ask a crucial question: are we designing educational environments that genuinely work for boys, or expecting boys to conform to systems that often struggle to accommodate how many of them learn, behave, and develop?

The reporting also touches on difficult but necessary debates: the role of ideology in schooling, the changing landscape of single-sex and co-educational education, and what different models may mean for boys’ outcomes and wellbeing.

This conversation is overdue.

Caring about boys does not mean caring less about girls. It means recognising that our sons, brothers, students, nephews, and young men are precious too; and that persistent educational disparities deserve the same seriousness, compassion, and evidence-based response that we would rightly demand for any other group.

Australia needs more honest discussion, better research, male-positive and evidence-based reforms, and a willingness to listen to educators, parents, experts, and to boys themselves...

I look forward to the next two instalments: raising boys and the impact of influencers. If we want healthier, more capable, more grounded young men, then these are conversations our country needs to have.

Boys in crisis: How Australia’s school system can lift up our young men – instead of dragging them down
https://t.co/HWTi7v5xaS

Single-sex schooling is in decline as parents and new schools alike go co-ed – but what do their academic results reveal?
https://t.co/AwnLUVF1kJ

Education system becoming ‘pipeline of indoctrination’, new book warns
https://t.co/bhTKbuk4I5

[David Maywald @DavidMaywald]

The Forgiveness Cross at the Heart of Australia, by Harvest Journeys:
https://t.co/hsmq5sbouy

[David Maywald @DavidMaywald]

There's a little-known symbol of unity and hope in the heart of Australia. The Forgiveness Cross stands atop Memory Mountain (Kurrkalnga Puli) and was launched at Easter in 2023. And a reminder that half of Indigenous people are Christian.

Near Haasts Bluff, around 230 km west of Alice Springs, this extraordinary 20-metre Cross of core-ten steel rises from the red earth of central Australia. A vision that was decades in the making, led by Aboriginal elders and traditional owners of Ikuntji Country, and brought to life through collaboration, generosity, faith, and determination...

Its name matters deeply.

Not victory. Not power. Not resentment. But forgiveness.

Forgiveness is among the hardest and most transformative words in the human vocabulary. It doesn't deny truth, pain, injustice, or responsibility. Rather, it opens the possibility of healing, reconciliation, humility, mercy, and a new beginning. In a fractured age marked by division, loneliness, grievance, and mistrust, the word forgiveness carries a profound challenge: to examine our own hearts, to repair relationships, and to live with courage, grace, and purpose...

The Forgiveness Cross is also a remarkable example of collaboration with Indigenous Australians. Local elders, supporters from different Christian traditions, community leaders, artists, pilgrims, and donors worked together to create something enduring: a place of welcome, reflection, faith, opportunity, and encounter.

There's something deeply moving about a giant Cross standing on sacred Country at the centre of our continent. Not as a symbol of domination, but as an invitation.

An invitation to faith. To service. To principled lives. To forgiveness freely given and humbly received.

May we cherish this gift from the people of Ikuntji. And may more Australians discover this powerful reminder that unity and transformation don't begin in institutions or slogans; they begin in the human heart...

[David Maywald @DavidMaywald]

Memory Mountain Highlights - Launch of the Forgiveness Cross at Easter 2023, from Vision Christian Media:
https://t.co/i96HF1c1bY
@VisionMediaAU

[David Maywald @DavidMaywald]

Memory Mountain Highlights - Launch of the Forgiveness Cross 2023 https://t.co/jvKvBF0hZq via @YouTube

[David Maywald @DavidMaywald]

Notes on Being A Man by Scott Galloway has been a remarkable success: commercially, culturally, and in its ability to capture attention. And that matters. In a public conversation where boys and men are too often ignored, caricatured, or treated as an embarrassment, Scott Galloway has used his platform, communication skills, and blunt style to force these issues into the mainstream.

The book is concise, personal, and accessible. Drawing on his own life, career, failures, fatherhood, and observations of modern society, Galloway speaks directly to young men about purpose, discipline, relationships, work, health, and meaning. He deserves credit for articulating what many people can see but few are willing to say publicly: too many boys and men are drifting, disconnected, underperforming, and struggling to find a clear path into adulthood.

In many respects, Galloway nails the diagnosis. He understands the economic, educational, technological, and cultural headwinds facing young men. He is particularly effective at explaining why so many males feel alienated, lonely, or left behind.

But diagnosis isn't the same as prescription.

Where the book is strongest in identifying problems, it's weaker in setting out robust, evidence-based solutions. The recommended responses can feel individualised, motivational, and somewhat thin relative to the scale and complexity of the challenges being described. Personal responsibility matters enormously, but institutions, policy, education systems, family structures, and cultural narratives matter too.

A second criticism concerns influence versus achievements. Galloway has generated huge numbers of eyeballs and valuable public attention. Yet compared with leaders such as Richard Reeves and Mark Brooks, there is less of the painstaking policy development, evidence synthesis, institutional reform work, and practical architecture for change...

That's not to diminish his contribution. Powerful communicators are essential. But the next phase of this journey requires not only compelling diagnosis and viral reach, but also deeper scholarship, durable frameworks, and tangible pathways toward better outcomes for boys and men.

Even so, Notes on Being A Man is worth reading; especially because it has helped legitimise a conversation that desperately needs wider engagement...

@profgalloway

[Sall Grover @salltweets]

Literally the only pre-requisite to be a “transwoman” is be a man.

[David Maywald @DavidMaywald]

Men's Leadership Summit 2026 - Get In Early https://t.co/18ER6hg5ZY via @YouTube

[David Maywald @DavidMaywald]

In late May, I attended The Gathering held by the Centre for Men & Families Australia, a two-day experience that's directly grounded in the teachings and writings of Richard Rohr.

It was a powerful reminder of the enormous contributions that Rohr has made, not only for men and boys, but for Christians across all denominations, and for many people seeking a deeper, more grounded spirituality...

Based in New Mexico, Rohr has spent decades challenging shallow, performative, and overly intellectual approaches to faith. His work calls people toward humility, self-awareness, contemplation, compassion, and transformation. He speaks openly about suffering, shadow, ego, forgiveness, belonging, and what it means to mature spiritually.

For men especially, Rohr’s impact has been profound. Through books such as From Wild Man to Wise Man, Adam’s Return, Falling Upward, and The Divine Dance, he has helped huge numbers of men to navigate purpose, identity, fatherhood, loss, work, relationships, aging, and the search for meaning. Rather than caricaturing masculinity, he invites men into healthy initiation, responsibility, service, emotional honesty, and spiritual depth...

His framework of male initiation (moving from ego and performance toward wisdom, generativity, and love) has influenced men’s groups, retreats, ministries, families, and communities around the world.

In an age of division, polarisation, loneliness, anxiety, ideological tribalism, and spiritual confusion, Rohr’s voice remains distinctive: deeply Christian, Franciscan, contemplative, psychologically informed, and profoundly human.

You don't have to agree with all of his theology, to see that his legacy is undeniably massive. He has helped countless people (including many men who might otherwise have disengaged from faith or community) to encounter spirituality not as domination, dogma, or image management, but as a pathway toward truth, healing, maturity, and love.

That's a remarkable contribution, and certainly worth celebrating.

[Senator Sarah Henderson @SenSHenderson]

Chris Bowen, the self-declared COP President of Negotiations, sent bureaucrats to Fiji at a cost of almost $50k to organise an international climate conference. We were assured this wouldn’t cost more than $147 million!

Australians should not be copping this in a cost-of-living crisis when Labor’s toxic taxes are threatening the livelihoods of so many Australians.

➡️ https://t.co/PocjOa3r7n

#BudgetEstimates

[David Maywald @DavidMaywald]

Why 92% Of CHRISTIANS Say Australia Has Changed https://t.co/A3Y1BfWbBO via @YouTube

[Senator Sarah Henderson @SenSHenderson]

The ABC’s shock decision to employ as a podcast host Grace Tame, who described corroborated reports of Hamas’ sexual violence against Israeli women as ‘propaganda’ which had been ‘debunked’ and led a pro-Palestine rally chanting ‘globalise the intifada’, is untenable.

How can Australians be expected to trust the ABC when it hires a high-profile activist who spread false information about the barbaric October 7 terrorist attacks and engaged in conduct which promotes hostility towards Jewish people?

➡️ https://t.co/nSTokr28Ub

[David Maywald @DavidMaywald]

Australia Fractured and Weakened, but not Finished | Australia’s Future S5E9... https://t.co/A4HAXGJehf via @YouTube

[David Maywald @DavidMaywald]

During the final leg of my Queensland trip, I drove north from Caboolture to Sunshine Coast, then further north to Gympie and Maryborough. Finally arriving in Hervey Bay, to catch up with my good mate Luke.

In the hinterland of the Sunshine Coast, I had an excellent meeting with Paul Mischefski. He's the editor of Mentor, the magazine of an organisation called Men's Wellbeing (with 4,000 supporters and followers).

Mens Wellbeing is a not-for-profit organisation based on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland that exists to support men (and the people who care about them), through a strong ethos of “men supporting men”. Founded more than 25 years ago, the organisation creates safe, confidential and non-judgemental spaces where men can connect, reflect, and grow. Through initiatives such as Common Ground (a structured 9-week facilitated program), Open Men’s Groups, weekend gatherings and community events, Men’s Wellbeing helps men explore life’s challenges, relationships, identity, purpose, mental health and personal development alongside other men facing similar experiences...

The organisation engages with men from a wide range of ages, backgrounds and life circumstances across South-East Queensland, Victoria, and beyond, including men seeking stronger connection, greater self-understanding, or support through difficult periods of life. Men’s Wellbeing helps by building genuine community, encouraging honest conversation, fostering healthier communication and reducing isolation. Its programs and groups provide practical opportunities for men to form friendships, share openly, develop emotional resilience and become better partners, fathers, colleagues and community members.

In Maryborough, I dropped into Llew O'Brien's office to meet his electorate staff (and then a couple of days later I caught up with Llew and his wife Sharon in Canberra). Llew is the Federal MP for Wide Bay, as well as the Shadow Special Envoy for Men and Boys. Gratitude to his Chief of Staff Simon, who welcomed me to Maryborough.

There was plenty of time on the highway for long phone calls, and for listening to a range of podcasts that were on my list.

It was wonderful to stay with Luke Jansen in Hervey Bay, which is a haven from the crazy city life (and very comfortable in late May, compared to the chilly mornings in Canberra). And an absolute pleasure to meet his friends Trevor and Annie Boulton.

This weeklong trip to Queensland was fantastic. Well worth the flight up, and 900 km of driving.

[David Maywald @DavidMaywald]

"The small man builds cages for everyone he knows. While the sage, who has to duck his head when the moon is low, keeps dropping keys all night long for the beautiful, rowdy prisoners."

This popular modern rendering of the poem Dropping Keys is attributed to the famous 14th-century Persian Sufi poet Hafez (Hafiz).

Thank you Brett for sharing this with the Men's Circle at The Gathering.

[Tom Golden | Men Are Good @trgolden]

How Feminists have used Relational Aggression, by @trgolden https://t.co/20FfKEZ4mJ

[christopher joye @cjoye]

No surprise, but it begs the question: if you lied relentlessly before the election about these taxes, and you now have voters clearly rejecting them en masse, how can you possibly try to legislate these policies now given the election was won on the basis of grossly misleading and deceptive representations? One Nation surges ahead of Labor as budget flops: Poll https://t.co/ZQs5yR7kZD

[Femme @FemCondition]

"73% of men who experienced female-perpetrated violence reported that their partner threatened to make false accusations versus less than 3% of males in the general population. Among men who experience female-perpetrated violence, 56% said their female partners actually did make false accusations that he physically or sexually abused her."

False allegations are a tool for abusive women, and we need to understand this. Abused men need protection.

https://t.co/Gvo3yISMc7