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(N.B.)
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IN THE SUPREME COURT
1
2
3
4
5
6
FULL COURT
7
8
ADELAIDE
9
10
CORAM: KOURAKIS CJ, KELLY, PEEK, BLUE, STANLEY
AND NICHOLSON JJ
11
12
13
SPECIAL SITTING
14
15
ON THE PRESENTATION OF THE COMMISSION BY THE HONOURABLE
16
JUSTICE PARKER
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
TRANSCRIPT OF PROCEEDINGS
28
29
WEDNESDAY, 27 NOVEMBER 2013 AT 9.35 A.M.
30
31
32
ATTORNEY-GENERAL FOR STATE OF SA
33
MR D. CARUSO FOR LAW SOCIETY OF SA
34
MR P. O'SULLIVAN QC FOR SOUTH AUSTRALIAN BAR ASSOCIATION
35
36
37
38
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SPECIAL SITTING
KOURAKIS CJ:
I welcome all of you to this sitting of
the Supreme Court.
I welcome in particular the family
and friends of Parker J.
I also acknowledge the
1
2
3
presence of former members of the court, their spouses
4
and partners.
5
The court sits today to welcome Parker J.
The purpose of these sittings is threefold: first,
6
to give the Attorney-General an opportunity to welcome
7
the judge on behalf of the executive government and on
8
behalf of the people of the State; second, to give the
9
President of the Law Society and the President of the
10
Bar Association the opportunity to welcome Parker J on
11
behalf of the legal profession of the State; third, to
12
give Parker J the opportunity to reply.
13
In accordance with our usual practice I will invite
14
the Attorney-General, the President of the Law Society
15
and the President of the Bar Association to speak in
16
that order.
17
Parker J will have today and hereinafter,
save for an appeal, the advantage of the final word.
18
THE HONOURABLE JUSTICE PARKER TAKES OATH
19
KOURAKIS CJ:
20
I congratulate you on your appointment
and I welcome you as a Justice of the Supreme Court of
21
South Australia.
22
I invite you to take your seat at the
bench.
23
ATTORNEY-GENERAL:
May it please the court, I rise to
24
welcome your Honour's commission as a judge of the
25
Supreme Court of South Australia.
26
Your Honour's
contribution to the legal fabric of this State has quite
27
properly received accolades.
28
Your Honour is highly
regarded by your peers and the profession generally.
29
Your Honour has set a very high bar for those who would
30
follow you in the Crown.
31
I have always marvelled at the depth and breadth of
your Honour's legal knowledge.
Your Honour is notorious
32
33
for being a stickler for facts and detail; hopefully my
34
remarks contain no glaring errors.
35
Your Honour was an adult entrant to Adelaide Law
36
School in the late 1980s, and your Honour received
37
numerous academic awards and recognition whilst, at the
38
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SPECIAL SITTING
same time, balancing a steady career in the Commonwealth
1
Public Service.
2
Beginning as a legal practitioner in 1990, your
3
Honour moved on to serve in various legal positions in
4
the Attorney-General's Department, including acting and
5
deputy roles, such as Managing Solicitor 1997 to 2004,
6
and Deputy Crown Solicitor in the Crown Solicitors
7
Office.
8
During this time your Honour developed an enormous
9
knowledge of employment law, building on your deep
10
understanding of constitutional and administrative law.
11
During the WorkChoices High Court litigation in
12
2006, one of the biggest cases of that decade, you
13
juniored Chris Kourakis QC, then Solicitor-General.
14
In February of 2010 you were appointed to the
15
position of Crown Solicitor, in which capacity you were
16
tasked with managing South Australia's most complex and
17
sensitive legal issues.
18
I can personally attest to the high quality advice
19
that your Honour has provided to the State Government
20
and its agencies.
21
Your Honour's work has included
drafting of the Model Litigant Rules.
Your Honour's
22
committed adherence to them throughout your tenure as
23
Crown Solicitor has offered great leadership.
24
Your Honour's efforts were recognised earlier this
25
year when your Honour was awarded the Public Service
26
Medal by the Governor-General in the Queen's Birthday
27
Honours 2013 for outstanding public service in the
28
provision of legal and industrial advice.
29
Not many may be aware that a connection between your
30
Honour's ancestors and the law dates back to the 1800s.
31
I am advised that your Honour recently discovered a
32
letter from the Crown Solicitor of Van Dieman's Land
33
addressed to your great, great - I'm not sure how many
34
greats - grandfather regarding his 'Legal
35
indiscretions'.
36
I must also take this opportunity to congratulate
your Honour on your Honour's appointment as the
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37
38
inaugural President of the South Australian Civil and
1
Administrative Tribunal.
2
The South Australian Civil and Administrative
3
Tribunal is an exciting advance for the South Australian
4
justice system.
5
It is a reform of which I am very
proud.
6
Particularly in its infancy, the tribunal requires
7
strong vision and management in order to realise its
8
huge potential.
9
I am confident your Honour's unique
experience, skills and vision make your Honour the ideal
10
candidate to take on this challenge.
11
On a personal note, can I say your Honour is
12
renowned for being unfailing supportive, caring and
13
compassionate - although I am advised by many from the
14
Crown that your Honour has a unique way of doing that.
15
Your Honour has a prodigious memory, remembering
16
birthdays of staff simply by having seen it once on the
17
form.
When not at work your Honour can be found working
18
on your block in the Adelaide Hills, down at the amateur
19
football club or on the quiz circuit.
20
I hear that
colleagues at the Crown Solicitors office are jostling
21
for a spot on your Honour's table as your Honour is the
22
unbeaten champion of the Crown quiz nights.
23
I understand also that it was on the quiz circuit
that your Honour met your wife, Maureen.
24
25
For over 20 years you have dedicated your career to
26
providing legal advice based on the highest ethical and
27
professional standards.
28
I think everyone will agree when I say that your
29
Honour is a proud addition to the Supreme Court bench
30
and to the role of inaugural President of the South
31
Australian Civil and Administrative Tribunal.
32
The only small issue is that your Honour may have
33
inadvertently upset Master Dart, who was hitherto the
34
most senior judicial figure from your years at Law
35
School.
36
On a personal basis, and on behalf of the State
Government, I express my strong confidence in both of
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SPECIAL SITTING
37
38
your appointments.
KOURAKIS CJ:
May it please the court.
Mr Caruso, for the President of the Law
Society.
1
2
3
MR CARUSO:
If the court pleases it is with delight
4
and anticipation that I on behalf of the Law Society and
5
the profession, congratulate your Honour on your
6
appointment to this Honourable Court.
7
Your Honour has
made a sterling contribution to the development of
8
public law and the shape of the Public Service in this
9
State.
10
Your Honour is ubiquitously regarded as hardworking,
meticulous and self-effacing.
Those qualities saw your
11
12
Honour patiently waiting in a long queue for the
13
photocopier during study of Economics and Arts at
14
Flinders University some years ago.
15
Whilst waiting, one of your lecturers who was
16
waiting in line behind you, struck up a conversation to
17
suggest that your Honour's grades were so good that you
18
should consider studying law.
19
Your Honour transitioned to complete the LLB at the
University of Adelaide.
Today is confirmation that the
20
21
lecturer behind you was sincerely and rightly captivated
22
by your Honour's commitment and aptitude for study
23
rather than simply wishing to move one space ahead in
24
the queue.
25
Your Honour was a '30 something'-year-old law
26
student but received no sideways glances or taunts of
27
'mature-age' through the gritted teeth of your pimply
28
18-year-old peers.
29
They say you were a good classmate
and respectfully, although sheepishly, remember that you
30
won all the awards at Law School Prize Nights.
31
Your Honour's economic prowess attracted the
32
interest of Mr Brad Selway QC, who vigorously encouraged
33
your Honour to join the CSO.
34
The attention and
confidence of the honourable Brad Selway is an accolade
35
that speaks for itself.
36
Your Honour joined the Crown and quickly developed
expertise in administrative, constitutional, industrial
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37
38
and electoral law that was sought after within the
1
public sector.
2
As the Attorney has mentioned, your
Honour was assistant to the
Solicitor-General, Managing
3
Solicitor of the Advising Section and Deputy Crown
4
Solicitor before being appointed the Crown Solicitor in
5
2010; 20 years after admission in 1990.
6
Your Honour selflessly described this as 'being in
the right place at the right time'.
Your Honour's
service as Crown Solicitor has been marked by precise
7
8
9
and fearless advice to government, and leadership that
10
has instilled in the near 200 lawyers you lead the
11
importance of determination and diligence to ensure
12
service in the best interests of the public.
13
Your Honour has led a CSO characterised by equality
14
and managed a team that works far beyond requisite
15
public service hours; a work ethic that no doubt arises
16
from the commitment to justice you have inspired in your
17
lawyers, and which has engendered their loyalty to a
18
Crown Solicitor who ensured their independence and
19
defended the Office.
20
Your Honour has always made time to share your
experience and expertise.
You are the Chair of the
21
22
South Australian Branch of the Australian Institute of
23
Administrative Law and have been actively involved with
24
the Australian Association of Constitutional Law,
25
regularly delivering seminars for each organisation.
26
You have been a member of the society since 1999 and
27
earlier this year your Honour was awarded the Public
28
Service Medal.
29
You are a keen supporter of the Sydney
Swans and an avid cricket fan.
I was prepared here to
30
provide your Honour a score update but I think it is no
31
mere coincidence that this sitting has been held between
32
the First and Second Tests.
33
Your Honour's appointment is also met with
34
anticipation amongst the profession, as your Honour will
35
be the inaugural President of the South Australian Civil
36
and Administrative Tribunal.
37
It is 30 years since the South Australian Law Reform
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6
SPECIAL SITTING
38
Commission, as it then existed, recommended the
1
establishment of a State-based administrative appeals
2
body.
3
In 2011 and 2012, your Honour was a member of the
4
steering committee that reported upon the establishment
5
of a general administrative tribunal.
6
The Society welcomes the establishment of SACAT
and
7
celebrates your Honour's appointment as its president,
8
particularly, as before your Honour first turned to the
9
study of law, and during your study, you had long served
10
in the Commonwealth Public Service, having commenced
11
there in 1974.
12
Your Honour comes to the position as
president of SACAT with formidable legal expertise but
13
also a unique understanding and empathy for the
14
processes, structures and people involved in and
15
affected by administrative decisionmaking.
16
Your Honour has said that SACAT will and I will
17
quote your Honour:
18
'Enable the consolidation of a wide range of
19
administrative decisionmaking functions, reviews and
20
appeals, currently decided by various courts, tribunals,
21
boards and in a few instances, Ministers, {which will}
22
benefit the community by facilitating access, reducing
23
costs, simplifying processes and further enhancing
24
decisionmaking.'
25
Your Honour will need to become accustomed to having
yourself quoted to you.
26
27
Members of the Guardianship Board and the
28
Residential Tenancies Tribunal, the first jurisdictions
29
to move to the SACAT, have remarked on the already
30
positive and constructive meetings your Honour has held
31
with them.
32
The profession looks forward to your Honour's
33
leadership of SACAT and office as a member of this
34
court.
35
Your Honour's appointment follows a legal
career where all around you have recognised and admired
36
your Honour's ability and talent.
37
For the profession's
part we shall all aspire to be as expeditiously
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SPECIAL SITTING
38
convincing when appearing before your Honour, as the
1
lecturer who spoke to you in the photocopier queue.
2
May it please the court.
KOURAKIS CJ:
3
Mr O'Sullivan, President of the Bar
Association.
4
5
MR O'SULLIVAN:
May it please the court, on behalf of the
6
South Australian Bar Association I join with the
7
Attorney and the Law Society today in congratulating
8
your Honour on your appointment as a judge of this
9
court.
10
As we have heard, your Honour came to the study of
law as a mature-age student.
Many of your fellow
11
12
students from that time are in court today to celebrate
13
this special occasion with you.
14
As we have also heard your Honour took out most of
15
the major law prizes whilst at university, being awarded
16
the Stow Prize, not just once, but twice, for
17
outstanding merit in two or more subjects in a
18
particular year.
19
Your Honour's service to the administration of law
20
has been exemplary since your appointment as a solicitor
21
in the Advising Section of the South Australian Crown
22
Solicitors Office in 1990.
23
Your colleagues describe you
as a 'lawyer's lawyer', as an impressive, hardworking
24
and independent thinker, one who is quite comfortable
25
giving unpalatable advice, and who resists any
26
temptation to say what you think the other person may
27
wish to hear.
28
These qualities have been invaluable to
the government in the positions you have held where you
29
have been required to advise on some of the most complex
30
and sensitive legal matters in South Australia.
31
In 1999, the Australian Institute of Administrative
32
Law was established to promote knowledge of and interest
33
in Australian Commonwealth and State and Territory
34
administrative law and played a key role in the highly
35
successful National Administrative Law Conference, which
36
was held in Adelaide in July last year, with the theme
37
of 'Integrity in Administrative Decisionmaking'.
38
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SPECIAL SITTING
Your Honour's encyclopaedic knowledge of public law
1
and reputation for giving clear and assertive advice
2
meant that you enjoyed a formidable reputation at the
3
Crown Solicitor's Office.
4
That is a difficult status to have achieved in a
5
department whose corporate memory includes a long, long
6
list of legal luminaries.
7
Two generations of young practitioners have now had
8
the benefit of your mentorship, and the example you set
9
of modest, but determined leadership.
As long ago as
10
2001 when your Honour was the managing solicitor in the
11
Advising Section, and during the period in which the
12
Crown Solicitors office was inundated with work, your
13
colleagues in the Advising Section recognised the
14
enormous gap that would be left if you were to ever
15
retire.
16
Chris Bleby SC and Ms Bev Wilson drafted a proposed
17
piece of legislation which was called 'The Crown
18
Solicitors Office (Mental Health) Act 2001'.
19
The
objects of the Act were to preserve the mental health
20
and wellbeing of the solicitors in the Advising Section.
21
An underlying premise of the Act was that everyone would
22
remain sane as long as all of the major decisions were
23
left to the Drinks Club.
24
S.8 of the Act reads as
follows:
25
'The Governor may on a recommendation made by the Drinks
26
Club, appoint a person to be managing solicitor if Greg
27
ever leaves.'
28
'Greg is not allowed to leave.'
29
'If Greg ever leaves his brain is to be retained by the
30
Advising Section and entered on the Crown Solicitors
31
office opinion database.'
32
You have been described by some who worked with you
33
as a shy man, but there was nothing aloof about your
34
management style.
35
You spoke to and socialised with the
rank and file in the same way you did with Government
36
Ministers, the solicitor-general and members of the
37
judiciary.
38
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SPECIAL SITTING
In your work you demanded and received high
1
standards, however no-one you managed was ever afraid to
2
ask you a 'simple question'.
3
Your ability to put young
solicitors at ease and tease out the real issue whilst
4
simultaneously finding arcane but interesting questions
5
in the fairly simple problem with which they'd come to
6
you left many a junior practitioner walking out of your
7
office feeling that perhaps their question hadn't been
8
so simple after all.
9
It has been said that your Honour has remembered
everything you've ever read, written or been told.
A
10
11
former colleague remembers saying in conversation that
12
the highest point in South Australia was St Mary's Peak.
13
You immediately pointed out that Mt Woodroffe was the
14
tallest peek in the State, that it rose 4,708 feet above
15
sea level, was comprised predominantly of granite and
16
that St Mary's Peak was a mere 3,842 feet tall.
17
You
then identified William Gosse as the person who named
18
it, and pointed out it had been considered as the site
19
for the Anglo Australian Telescope but lost out to
20
Siding Springs in New South Wales because it was
21
considered too remote.
22
You finished by saying you'd
learnt about it in geography at school.
23
Chris Bleby SC had a similar experience shortly
after he started at the Crown Solicitors Office.
He
24
25
told you that he and his wife had purchased an old house
26
on a particular street in a particular suburb.
27
You
immediately chimed in by telling him that it would have
28
been built under the post war austerity measures,
29
explained the permissible size of the footprint at the
30
time, the regulations that prevented certain materials
31
from being used, and how those with a bit of money could
32
get around the regulations and could create a footprint
33
that could later be filled in with a lean-to of a
34
certain size.
35
You suggested it would have a picture
window at the front it was in a style that might be
36
called 'faux Art Deco'.
37
The description of the house
you had never seen was uncannily accurate.
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SPECIAL SITTING
Chris was
38
left to wonder whether you'd been speaking to the
1
Manager of the Advising Section or Sherlock Holmes.
2
As we know, your Honour has not only been appointed
3
as a judge of this honourable court but you will hold
4
the concurrent office of President of the newly
5
established South Australian Civil and Administrative
6
Tribunal.
7
In his press release of 24 July 2013 announcing the
establishment of the tribunal the Attorney-General
8
9
described it as a significant forward leap for South
10
Australia which would be a one-stop shop for the
11
community on a broad range of civil and administrative
12
matters.
13
In announcing your Honour's appointment to
head up the tribunal, the Attorney-General said you have
14
'extensive management experience through your leadership
15
roles within the Crown Solicitors Office and you have
16
set a very high bar in this pivotal role.
17
Your Honour's
experience makes you uniquely qualified to lead the
18
tribunal'.
19
There is no doubt that your Honour is the
20
pre-eminent administrative lawyer in South Australia.
21
Given your deep love for public, industrial
22
constitutional and administrative law, your depth of
23
knowledge and your exceptional management qualities, the
24
Bar can think of no-one more deserving of the
25
appointment as this State's first head of the newly
26
established tribunal.
27
Your Honour's appointment is an
acknowledgment of the considerable contribution you have
28
made to Australian administrative law.
29
The Bar congratulates you and wishes you every
success for the future.
PARKER J:
May it please the court.
Chief Justice, my fellow judges, Mr
30
31
32
Attorney, Mr Caruso, Mr O'Sullivan and other
33
distinguished guests, members of the profession, my
34
family - particularly my wife Maureen and daughter
35
Clare, my brother Bill (who has come from Canberra with
36
Jenny) and friends.
37
As always on these occasion, there seems to be some
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SPECIAL SITTING
38
considerable embellishment in the stories.
I think
1
Mr O'Sullivan has done exceptionally well in that
2
regard, and thank you Dr Bleby as well, as he seems to
3
have been a significant contributor to polishing
4
reminiscences.
5
During my 43 years in public administration - I will
6
correct an error, it's not 1974 but I did start young -
7
I have mostly seen competent decision making by many
8
dedicated officers.
9
Regrettably though, I have seen a
small proportion of decisions that have caused injustice
10
to members of the community or didn't comply with the
11
law for some reason.
12
Mostly that was due to lack of
proper training and systems so that staff could properly
13
deal with increasingly complex legislation and complex
14
programs.
15
Nevertheless, such failures have always
troubled me.
One wrong or unjust decision is too many.
16
For that reason, I was greatly honoured when the
17
Attorney-General asked me to take an appointment to this
18
Court and as the first President of SACAT.
19
SACAT will
play a crucial role in ensuring that Ministers and
20
public sector agencies, in the words of the SACAT Act
21
'make the correct and preferable decision'.
22
I started in my public service career in 1970 with
the Immigration Department.
While I'm sure my bosses at
23
24
the time tried to generally apply the literal terms of
25
the Migration Act, with the great advantage of 40 years
26
hindsight I can confidently say that sometimes the use
27
of discretionary powers looked like a catalogue of 'what
28
not to do' found in any administrative law textbook.
29
After four years at Immigration I moved to Social
Security in 1974.
At that time unemployment in
30
31
Australia was sky rocketting, while we weren't faced
32
with the regular budgetary cuts that we now see in the
33
guise of 'efficiency dividends' or other similar terms,
34
dreamed up by our friends in the Treasury, instead there
35
was an inflexible system controlled by the Public
36
Service Board which meant that staff numbers often
37
lagged behind what was required to do the job properly.
38
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SPECIAL SITTING
The result was persons did not get paid promptly
1
while, as certain media outlets and others constantly
2
trumpeted, others were paid who certainly should not
3
have been.
4
That points to both the real injustice to members of
5
the community and the unnecessary costs to taxpayers
6
that can occur when a public sector agency is not well
7
organised and efficient.
8
I certainly seek to be very mindful of that
9
experience as President of SACAT, which is likely to
10
deal with 20,000 matters a year when it is fully
11
operative.
12
I spent 16 years in what was then Social Security
13
starting as a unemployment benefit assessor and
14
finishing as Assistant Director in charge of appeals.
15
Two very important things in my life happened whilst
I was there.
The first was I met my wife, Maureen, of
16
17
30 years, through our participation in a departmental
18
quiz competition.
19
I shouldn't take all the accolades for the quiz
night success.
Maureen has been a great contributor on
20
21
many occasions as were my friends Rex and Meredith
22
Whitford, who are here today.
23
The second thing was that I first came into contact
24
with lawyers and the courts, through the several years I
25
spent investigating fraudulent claims and the like.
26
I recently reminded Blue J that I briefed him in
27
several prosecutions when he was a recently admitted
28
practitioner with the Deputy Crown Solicitor for the
29
Commonwealth.
30
I then moved into the Social Security field area
31
when at the very time Commonwealth administrative law
32
reforms were taking off.
33
So in quick succession staff
had to adjust to appeals to the Social Security Appeals
34
Tribunal, scrutiny by the Ombudsman, access to documents
35
under the Freedom of Information Act, appeals to the
36
Administrative Appeals Tribunal, judicial review in the
37
Federal Court under the AD(JR) Act, and the development
38
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13
SPECIAL SITTING
of publically funded community legal centres.
Prior to that there had been no external appeal
right.
1
2
3
Those changes gave greater protection to vulnerable
members of the community.
4
The department was forced to
5
spend considerable time and money in training its staff
6
to make better and lawful decisions. Through my appeals
7
work I came in more contact with lawyers.
8
While up to
then I had been promoted fairly rapidly, it was clear
9
that I needed a tertiary education, if I was to progress
10
much further.
11
As mentioned I gained entry to Flinders
University under the adult special entry scheme. I
12
stayed there on a part-time basis.
13
The chap in the photo copier queue has already been
14
mentioned, I think from memory it was a fellow student
15
rather than a lecturer, however the nub of the story is
16
the same.
17
I took up the suggestion of the person in the queue
18
and started the law course in 1985 and alternated
19
between full and part-time study, depending on our
20
finances.
21
My family's financial sacrifice focused my attention
22
on my studies and I have no doubt my prior work
23
experience also provided a good foundation as well.
24
Most importantly, I have always been strongly supported
25
by Maureen in my studies and later in my legal career.
26
She has provided most of the additional care and
27
attention that our son, Stephen, has always needed, and
28
I am grateful for that.
29
I was fortunate to be taught by some very fine
academics.
I particularly mention my honours
30
31
supervisor, Associate Professor John Keeler and
32
Professor Kathy Mack who was my tutor in several early
33
subjects.
34
When I finished my studies John Keeler mentioned my
35
name to the then Crown Solicitor, the late Bradley
36
Selway, later Solicitor-General and a Federal Court
37
judge.
38
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Brad got me to do a GDLP placement at the Crown
14
SPECIAL SITTING
and some casual work in the holiday period.
Brad threw
1
me in the deep end by getting me to draft some urgent
2
and difficult advice for the Police Commissioner on a
3
then controversial issue, that was very keenly debated
4
in the media.
5
Brad was apparently happy with my
efforts.
6
Brad then recruited me into the Advising Section at
the Crown.
My primary focus there was on constitutional
and administrative law, public employment, State
7
8
9
taxation and the more difficult statutory interpretation
10
issues.
11
More than elsewhere in the Crown, it is fair to say
12
that the Advising Section works closely with Ministers
13
and Cabinet.
14
At the same time I also did a range of
general legal work particularly early on.
I remained in
15
Advising, as I said, until I took up the role of the
16
Crown Solicitor early in 2010, upon the appointment of
17
Simon Stretton SC as a judge of the District Court.
18
I
was the head of the Advising Section for the previous
19
five years, mostly as Deputy Crown Solicitor and
20
followed in the footsteps of Mark Johns as head of
21
Advising.
22
I was fortunate in the early time at the Crown to
23
work with John Doyle, later Chief Justice, and Brad
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Selway.
25
I learnt much about public law from them and
appeared with both of them in the High Court in
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constitutional matters.
27
When our present Chief Justice was Solicitor-General
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I worked closely with him and also Stephen McDonald in
29
preparing the High Court challenge in relation to the
30
WorkChoices legislation.
My memory of that time is that
31
it was basically fuelled by a never-ending flow of Greek
32
coffee that emerged from the corner of the
33
Solicitor-General's chambers.
34
I also work closely with a great many talented
lawyers at the Crown.
Some are seated today amongst the
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36
judicial officers in front of the bar table and a great
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many others in the body of the court.
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I'm sure I learnt
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a great deal from all of them and there is certainly too
1
many to name.
2
As has been mentioned by some of the speakers the
3
giving of frank, fearless and independent advice doesn't
4
make Crown lawyers popular with Ministers, no matter
5
what their political persuasion, nor with other holders
6
of high office. But it is essential for good government
7
and the rule of law to say 'No, Minister' when
8
necessary.
9
That saves them and chief executives
embarrassment and expense having decisions set aside by
10
this and other courts and, in future, no doubt SACAT.
11
Of course Crown lawyers must always seek to use
12
their skills to come up with an alternative lawful
13
approach.
There are a great many lawyers from the Crown
14
here today and I am confident that they will continue to
15
follow that long and strong tradition.
16
If not, the
Court and SACAT will soon remind them.
17
I certainly won't miss the flood of emails and phone
18
calls that I received every day as Crown Solicitor, the
19
constant meetings and requests for urgent advice to
20
settle or prepare, and the management of a tightening
21
budget.
22
However, as President of SACAT, it seems I
won't escape some of those demands which will need to be
23
combined with the different pressures placed on a judge.
24
I found it wasn't uncommon to get early warning of
25
what I would have to deal with during the day by
26
listening to Matt and Dave on Radio 891.
27
Sometimes
driving to work, using a hands free phone of course, I
28
would receive a call from a minister, or Chief of Staff
29
or someone else wanting to know how they would respond.
30
Similarly, before I got to the sports pages in the
31
Sunday Mail I needed to have a quick skim of the news
32
stories to see the subject of the calls I might receive
33
on the weekend.
34
I want to particularly record my thanks to the
35
members of the CSO executive group for their skill in
36
managing a huge workload and constant budget cuts.
In
37
They know
38
the interests of brevity I won't name them.
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who they are.
1
I also take the opportunity to thank my personal
2
assistant for most of the past 10 years, Fiona
3
Blackmore, who has joined me at the court.
She could
4
always find the vital document that I needed urgently
5
while firmly and politely keeping away a good many
6
vexatious phone callers.
7
I'll just briefly touch upon the establishment of,
SACAT which has been mentioned by the speakers.
The actual conferral of jurisdiction is going to
8
9
10
require one or more Bills to amend a great many other
11
Acts to transfer the jurisdiction of courts to SACAT.
12
That's obviously going to be a matter for the new
13
Parliament, and the new government after the election
14
next March, but I have been pleased by the great amount
15
of work already done by the project team led by Robert
16
Templeton.
17
There is a huge amount of work still to be
done.
18
We aim to commence operation in September 2014 and
19
with the Guardianship Board and the Residential
20
Tenancies Tribunal to be the first jurisdictions to be
21
absorbed into SACAT.
22
They will provide about 19,000 of
the 20,000 matters that SACAT will be dealing with.
23
We have taken a staged approach to the transfer of
24
jurisdiction so it will be done in several steps so as
25
to minimise disruption.
26
I'm very keen to build upon
what is a good administrative appeals jurisdiction
27
although it is very wide range of jurisdictions and I
28
seek to consolidate and improve what's already there.
29
I also thank the huge number of people who sent
30
letters, emails and text messages congratulating me on
31
my appointments.
32
I did receive your emails although my
out of office reply may have suggested otherwise.
Finally, I must thank that nameless student in the
photocopier queue who advised me to take up law.
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