8
Australian Press Council New s, Novem ber 2004
Profie: Kevin McCreanor
The Council's public member from north Queensland retires in February next year, at the end of his
third three-year term. DEBORAH KIRKMAN spoke to Kevin McCreanor about his life and times.
r
Kevin McCreanor was born in
Perth in 1946. He was educated at
Rostrevor College and Adelaide
University. In 1968 he travelled to
PNG where he worked as an
advocate for indigenous persons
through the office of the Public
Solicitor.
In 1974 he returned to Australia
and commenced private practice
at the bar in Brisbane. In late 1979
he moved to Cairns and is now a
s e n io r b a rris te r in fa r north
Queensland.
He has travelled widely throughout
the region and specialises in
criminal law and general litigation.
Kevin joined the Australian Press
Council in November 1989 as a
Public M em ber A lternate. He
became a full member of the
Council in February 1996 and will
complete the third of his threeyear te rm s as a m em ber in
February 2005.
His other interests include golf,
reading, cooking and music.
here is a line in A untie Mame,
curve. In his six years w ith the Public
w hich goes "Life is a banquet,
Solicitor's Office he hand led some
an d m ost poor sons-of-bitches
m o st in te re stin g cases, in clu d in g
a re s ta r v in g to d e a th !"
K e acting
v in
on behalf of the A rraw a people
M cC reanor is enjoying the feast.
in their negotiations w ith Bougainville
M ining, and as p art of the defence
K e v in w a s b o rn in P e rth , h is
team acting for the 23 people charged
recollections ab o u t w h ich "a re n o t
w ith th e m u rd e r of th e D istrict
strong as I left there at the age of 10
C om m issioner for N ew Britain, in
m o n th s " , to live a n d g ro w u p in
Rabaul, w ho h ad been m urd ered over
A d e la id e . T he y o u n g K evin w a s
land rights discussions.
obviously clever, finishing secondary
T
school at 15 an d starting university the
follow ing year. He had no idea of w h at
career to pu rsu e. E ducated by the
C hristian Brothers w ho h ad an attitude
"th at unless you did law or m edicine,
joined the forces, the diplom atic corps,
or becam e a priest, no other occupation
w as really suitable", he did m edicine
because he got into the quota.
D uring his first year, Kevin w as taking
out a young lady w hose father w as
Frank M oran QC a leading crim inal
barrister in A delaide (he argued the R.
-v~ Ireland case). W hile his d aughter
w as getting ready one evening, the
father and the young m an got talking.
"Frank told m e that he th o u g h t I w ould
m ake a very good lawyer. A nd on the
basis of that I applied for law ." As sim ple
as that.
A brief, and very boring, tim e w as spent
in practice u p o n graduation. Kevin
w anted m ore, he "w anted to save the
w orld, w anted som e adventure." He
h ad read about N ew G uinea, an d it
intrigued him. So off to N ew G uinea he
w ent. All of 20 years of age, he ho p p ed
on a plane, landed at Port M oresby and
then began to look for lodgings and,
hopefully, a job.
D ressed in a suit, he presented him self
to Peter Lalor, the Public Solicitor. Kevin
describes Peter as "a tall, distinguished
looking m an, grey hair, m oustache. 1
rem em ber him sitting there at his desk
piled high w ith papers. A nd he h ad a
pair of sandshoes on, w ith no laces in
them , he h ad paint-stained trousers, an
open-neck shirt. A nd he gave m e a job."
It was the beginning of a huge learning
The trial held racist undercurrents.
"W e h ad the experience w hen w e first
w ent to Rabaul, th at w hite people
w ould spit on us as w e w ere acting for
the black people. We w ould w alk into
a restau ran t and they w ould refuse to
serve us. Yet, surprisingly, at the end
of the six m onths period by w hich
tim e w e had, th rough the court, p u t
forw ard our individual client's point
of view, the people's point of view,
w e were welcom e to the hom es of
w hite people. Indeed, one of the
law yers w ho appeared - Ted Lusher
QC - m ade the claim on one occasion
shortly before w e h ad finished the
case, 'W e w ould probably w in now in
front of a w hite jury'. Such had been
the change of attitude."
Such an experience instilled in Kevin
"a great respect for truth , a great
respect for listening to w hat other
people had to say, and a great respect
for know ing there is alw ays another
side to everything. T hat's som ething
that has been w ith m e ever since that
time."
After N ew G uinea, Kevin m oved to
Brisbane as he w an ted to practise
solely as a barrister. He knew one
person: "Des Sturgess, w ho was a
highly re g ard e d crim inal barrister
w h o m I had m et in N ew Guinea. H e
assisted me, introduced m e to a variety
of people. He told m e that I should
have to do a tw elve-m onth course at
the Grosvenor School o f Law, referring
to the G rosvenor Hotel w hich w as
directly opposite the court. It was the
m eetin g place for m any law yers,
Australian Press Council N ew s, Novem ber 2004
particularly crim inal lawyers. I was
introduced to a variety of solicitors,
and som e of them w ould give m e a
brief. T hat's how it started."
Kevin often w ent u p to C airns on
circuit. E ncouraged by a num ber of
solicitors u p there, w ho he had m et in
N ew G uinea, he set up in the Bar in
Cairns. H e likes the tropics very much.
"I see the tropics as a disease, you get
it or you do n 't. I have it. So, I w ent to
C airns a n d h av e been th ere ever
since."
Asked w hy he has never taken silk,
Kevin explained th at it w as "on the
basis th at it really is a com m ercial
decision, an d you lock yourself into
doing p articular kinds of work. I've
never really w an ted to do that. I like
to do crime. I still have this view that
I
I ind iv id u als - an d people w ho get
in v o lv e d in th e c rim in a l sy stem
generally speaking are poor, they are
often n o t very articulate, they often
com e from dysfunctional families,
people w ho are not well able to look
after their ow n interests - in a fair
society those p eo p le sh o u ld have
som ebody to tell their side of things. I
get a degree of satisfaction out of
know ing that these people do have a
level of representation."
Kevin dism isses the suggestion that
his decision h ad som ething to do w ith
h is e d u c a tio n b y th e C h ris tia n
Brothers, explaining that he "grew up
in an atm osphere w here reliance upon
the State has never been strong. The
tru st of the State has never been high.
The dislike of authority has alw ays
been high. W hether that is part of an
Irish heritage, I d o n 't really know . I
have alw ays preferred the individual
as opposed to the organisation or the
State. I think the individual is far
m ore interesting an d far m ore w orthy
of looking after th an any institution."
It w as th ro u g h lo o k ing after the
ind iv id u al that Kevin becam e aw are
of the Press Council. Asked by some
A b o rig in a l g ro u p s to p ro v id e a
potential plan for young Aboriginal
kids w ho had been educated, but had
no job prospects, Kevin suggested that
som e of them could be trained to work
in their com m unities as articled clerks.
| N eeding help w ith the preparation of
a d o cum ent that was required for
fun d in g purposes, he enlisted the aid
of a n a c q u a in ta n c e - E liz a b e th
Johnstone. "It was she w ho told me
about the Press Council. Elizabeth was
a public m em ber at the time."
"Som e m onths dow n the track I got a
call from Elizabeth w ho said that the
P re s s C o u n c il w a s c a llin g fo r
expressions of interest from people in
Far N orth Q ueensland and suggested I
apply. I m ade the short-list, came to
Sydney and w as interview ed by D avid
Flint and D orothy Ross and they decided
th at they w ould invite m e to become an
alternate public m em ber."
R e m e m b e rin g th e firs t c o u p le of
m eetings, Kevin "w as in aw e of John
M organ an d Peter Cole-Adams. They
really ran things. There w as also A drian
D eam er w hose sarcastic barbs came in
from time to time. I knew nothing at all
about the press. I sat, an d I listened, for
the first few occasions. I w as im pressed
from the outset. I had never been p art of
a b o d y that w as so dem ocratic, yet at the
sam e tim e m ade up of people w ho w ere
so
fie rc e ly
in d e p e n d e n t
and
o p in io n ated . The arg u m e n ts w ere
alw ays strong and robust yet there was
respect.
"I w as also very im pressed from the
early p art in that I anticipated that the
industry m em bers w ould all vote one
w ay, the public m em bers another. That
has never been the case. In m any
respects the Press Council is living proof
of the benefits of listening. Its judgm ents
are ultim ately fair, and honestly given.
It is not perfect, but a w hole lot better
than a long draw n-out legal process."
Kevin views the Policy D evelopm ent
Com m ittee, the other arm of the Press
Council, as its "engine-room ". The
com m ittee is kept busy, generating "a
huge am o u n t of w ork. W e defend
freedom of expression, freedom of the
press. We can go out as an honest
broker and pu t forth propositions which
w ould be advantageous for the press.
For exam ple, Fol needs to be attacked
an d explained to the public that it is a
m eans w hereby governm ents really are
not letting people know w h at they are
doing. The Press Council has a great
deal of authority because it is a body
that is seen to be quite independent in
the sense that it has a large public input
and, as a consequence, m ore credibility
an d m ore likely to be listened to."
N ow that Kevin is retiring from the
Press Council he will have m ore time
9
for painting, to w hich he has taken
"like a duck to water. I enjoy the
creative process." Kevin prefers to
paint people, w ith oils as "they are the
flesh and blood of w hat w e all are. We
react w ith them every day. G etting
a lo n g w ith th e m is im p o r ta n t.
Everyone has inside of them a lot of
goodness. People have so m uch to
give to one another, in term s of ideas,
encouragem ent, m aking life a w hole
lot better. The nuances and subtleties
of people are never ending. No-one
can ever truly u n d erstan d another
h u m a n b e in g .
T h e v o y a g e of
discovery of yourself, and of others, is
a continual voyage and, if you have
the right attitude, a very h ap p y one."
Deborah Kirkman
/ ----------------------------------------------- \
AUSTRALIAN
PRESS
C 0 U N CIL
m
A p p lic a tio n s are in v ite d from
in te re ste d
p erso n s
in n o rth
Queensland for appointment to the
A ustralian Press Council panel o f
public m em bers, representing the
public. Such members attend about
six Council meetings each year.
The Council is concerned with the
m ain ten an ce o f the freedom and
responsibility o f the press and to that
end adjudicates on complaints against
the p ress, and co n sid ers m atters
affecting its freedom.
The C o n stitu tio n o f the C o u n cil
provides that public members shall be
appointed from persons otherw ise
unconnected with the press.
Further information may be obtained
from the office o f the Council:
Suite 10.02, 117 York Street,
Sydney 2000.
Telephone: (02) 9261 1930 or
(1800)025712
Fax: (02) 9267 6826
Email: info@ presscouncil.org.au
or
Internet: http://www.presscouncil.org.au/
Applications should be addressed to
the Executive Secretary, to reach him
by 30 January 2005.