DOCSLIB.ORG

Farewell to the Honourable Justice Miller

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Farewell to the Honourable Justice Miller THE SUPREME COURT OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA FAREWELL TO THE HONOURABLE JUSTICE GEOFFREY MILLER TRANSCRIPT OF PROCEEDINGS AT PERTH ON FRIDAY, 11 DECEMBER 2009, AT 9.30 AM 1 Farewell to the Hon Justice Miller MARTIN CJ: The Court sits this morning to mark the retirement of Justice Geoffrey Miller from the Bench of this Court. We are very pleased to be joined this morning by his Honour's wife, Rhonda; his son, Julian; daughter-in-law, Ingrid; grand-daughter, Ellen; step-daughter, Marisa, as well as other family and friends. I would also like to welcome Justices Tony Siopis, John Gilmour, Neil McKerracher and Michael Barker of the Federal Court of Australia; the Hon Stephen Thackray, Chief Judge of the Family Court of Western Australia; her Honour Judge Antoinette Kennedy, Chief Judge of the District Court of Western Australia; Mr Robert Meadows QC, Solicitor-General; Ms Cheryl Gwilliam, Director-General of the Department of the Attorney-General; Professor the Honourable David Malcolm, former Chief Justice; and many other distinguished guests too numerous to name, including former members of this and other Courts. I would also like to welcome those who will address the Court this morning, being the Honourable Michael Mischin MLC, representing the Honourable Christian Porter MLA, Attorney-General of Western Australia on behalf of the Government, and unfortunately the Attorney cannot join us this morning; Mr John Prior, representing Mr Dudley Stow, President of the Law Society; and Mr Grant Donaldson SC, President of the WA Bar Association. Justice Miller joined this Court on 3 August 1998. That is, of course, almost 11 and a half years ago. 11 and a half years does not seem like a particularly long time, although it probably would if you were standing in the prisoner's dock at the time that term was pronounced. Some measure of the change that has occurred within the legal profession and the judiciary of this State over the period of his Honour's service on the Court is provided by a roll call of those who attended his Honour's welcome ceremony in August 1998. Professor the Honourable David Malcolm presided as Chief Justice. Present in Court were the Honourable Michael Holden, then Chief Judge of the Family Court; the Honourable Kevin Hammond, then Chief Judge of the District Court; his Honour Judge Fenbury, then President of the Children's Court; Mr Con Zempilas, then Chief Stipendiary Magistrate; the Honourable Peter Sharkey, then President of the West Australian Industrial Relations Commission; Mr Alan Piper, then Director-General of the Ministry of Justice; Mr Richard Foster, then Executive-Director of Court Services; Mr Peter Panegyres, then Crown Solicitor; her Honour Judge Kate O'Brien in her capacity as then President of the Law Society; and Justice McKechnie in his then capacity as Director of Public Prosecutions. I was also present and spoke in my capacity as President of the WA Bar Association. 1 Farewell to the Hon Justice Miller Absent were the State Attorney-General, the Honourable Peter Foss QC, and the Commonwealth Attorney, the Honourable Daryl Williams QC, although I am pleased to see that he has been able to join us this morning. In fact the only person present on that occasion and who continues to occupy the office which he then held, aside from Justices Murray, Owen and Wheeler, was Mr Robert Meadows QC, Solicitor-General, and who was in your Honour's year at Law School. We are all very pleased to see Mr Meadows here again today and I hasten to assure him that I am not trying to make any point by this observation. Rather, my point is that during your Honour's term in office there has been an almost complete turnover in the various offices held within the legal profession and the heads of Courts in this State. Your Honour joined the Bench after a stellar career as a solicitor advocate and then as a barrister. Your Honour was one of the many graduates of Perth Modern School who have gone on to distinguished careers in the law. Your Honour's academic success as a schoolboy was followed by similar success as a law student and you graduated with first-class honours in law from the University of Western Australia in 1963. During your university career you achieved a Full Blue in athletics, which is of course no mean feat, if you will pardon the pun. After graduation, your Honour practised in a variety of capacities before joining the Bar in 1980. You were appointed Queen's Counsel in July 1980 and practised in that capacity for 18 years prior to your appointment to this Bench. At the time of your appointment as Silk you were President of the Law Society and later served as Vice-President of the WA Bar Association. During your time at the Bar your Honour practised in a variety of professional areas, including especially personal injury litigation and increasingly the criminal area. You gained renown as an outstanding advocate and your Honour's services were in strong demand, particularly from those who had a difficult criminal defence to present. I was fortunate to have the privilege of acting as Junior Counsel to your Honour on a number of occasions, and later as opposing Counsel. I learnt a lot from your Honour in both capacities. Your Honour was well known as a very worthy opponent both inside and outside the Court. One of our areas of ideological difference at the Bar was in respect of the head gear and robes appropriately worn by Counsel in Court. My various attempts to persuade a majority of a general meeting of the Bar to support change in that regard failed ignominiously in the face of your Honour's strident opposition. I will say nothing of 2 Farewell to the Hon Justice Miller the renewal of that ideological difference when I joined the Bench as I would not want to spoil this occasion for your Honour. As a consequence of your Honour's appointment to the Bench, you felt obliged to give up a number of non-professional activities for which you were well known. Your Honour's fleetness of foot had been followed by an enthusiasm for fast cars and horses and you were prominent in the fields of motor racing and horseracing. The detective skills of Sherlock Holmes were not required to identify your Honour's car in the basement at Bar Chambers. It was usually bright red and a hotted-up, high-powered Falcon or Holden. At the time of your welcome to the Court, your Honour's aptitude for completing work in about half the time taken by others was the subject of much comment. That has also been a characteristic of your Honour's work on the Bench. One of the challenges of sitting with your Honour on the Court of Appeal has been to try to arrive back at Chambers after the completion of the hearing before the arrival of your Honour's first draft of the judgment. Your Honour's vigour has not been constrained to judgment writing. Following my arrival at the Court, I received the inestimable benefit of your views on a wide variety of subjects by memos delivered on average three or four times a day. This gained you the honorary title of Judge in Charge of Ideas. Some of them were very good ideas. In your capacity as Judge in Charge of the Criminal List you suggested a form of mediation of criminal cases. This was a novel idea. Until your Honour's proposal there was a widely held view that mediation, which had become such a central feature of the civil work of the Court, was inappropriate to the criminal work of the Court because of such principles as the presumption of innocence, the burden of proof resting at all times on the State, and the right to silence. But more detailed analysis revealed that notwithstanding those principles, which are of course very important principles that must be respected, there was still significant scope for a modified form of mediation process to facilitate the narrowing of issues to be tried and the possible resolution of a case by way of a plea of guilty, perhaps to a modified charge. The process commenced under the name of Voluntary Criminal Case Conferencing, and your Honour successfully recruited Mr Ron Cannon, a very senior and experienced criminal practitioner to conduct the programme in the first instance, and you drafted the protocol governing the 3 Farewell to the Hon Justice Miller operation of the programme. The programme has proven to be a great success and Mr Cannon's services have been augmented and in due course replaced by retired Chief Judge Hammond and retired Judge Jackson. If I were to take on the invidious challenge of attempting to identify a single characteristic of your Honour's judicial career, I would nominate your Honour's prodigious capacity for completing large volumes of work in a fraction of the time taken by ordinary mortals. The success of this programme has attracted interest from other jurisdictions, and a number of States are looking carefully at the programme with a view to emulating it in their own jurisdictions. This was evident during your Honour's time in the General Division, particularly when serving as Judge in Charge of the Criminal List, when a busy list of status conferences or pleas would be dealt with by your Honour with a degree of military precision, made possible by your Honour's capacity to assimilate the facts and legal issues in all the cases in that list in a very short period of time.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Ailing Australia • Peter Sheehan's Failed Camelot • Need, Greed and the Market • WA Inc's Bright Golden Lure PHILOMENA CORNU & STAFF
    Vol. 1 No.2 Apri11991 $4.00 rims, less pr Ailing Australia • Peter Sheehan's failed Camelot • Need, greed and the market • WA Inc's bright golden lure PHILOMENA CORNU & STAFF A DIVISION OF INTAlR TRAVEL INTERNATIONAL PTY LTD -b ..-----,j _. ) 1. 7 'r I.J.- '?)6 ~ L ~ /;;::-- (THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN CHINA) Just how is the Church faring in China today? Dr Paul Rule, head of the department of religious studies at La Trobe University, will lead our 2nd 'RICCI' TOUR OF CHINA (ex Melbourne) visiting Shanghi, Hangzhou, Nanjing and Beijing. 18DAYS This tour is not for the 'China tourist', but for the person with a genuine interest in seeing at first hand $3860 how the Church is coping in China today. per person (share twin, Departing 8 September 1991 inc. all meals) 4 QUEENS AVENUE, HAWTHORN, VICTORIA 3122, AUSTRALIA Tel: (03) 819 6889, 819 6890 Fax: (03) 819 6891 INCORPORATED IN VICTORIA: LIC. NO. 31248 This space could be yours FLASH To advertise with [-tJRJ:-KA STRI:-ET FOR PRESENTATIONS contact AND SUBMISSIONS Michael Kelly SJ Tel: (03) 427 7311 THAT SELL Fax: (03) 428 4450 Or call into Jesuit Publications, COLOUR AND BLACK & WHITE PHOTOGRAPHIC PRINTING. DIRECT PHOTOGRAPHIC COPIES TO A I SIZE. LASER COPIES. PLAN PRINTING. 300 Victoria Street, SLIDES, PHOTOGRAPHY. TYPESETTING & ARTWORK, LAMINATING. FILM PROCESSING, MOUNTING, BINDING. EXHIBITION & DISPLAY Richmond, Victoria . (Postal address: PO Box 553, FLASH GRAPHICS.(02) 555 70 II Richmond, Victoria 3121.) Volume 1 Number 2 • April1991 Cover photo: Afghan refugees in Peshawar, by Irie Duane RSM (sec story, p. 17) Graphics by Tim Metherall, Dean Moore and K.
    [Show full text]
  • A Police Whistleblower in a Corrupt Political System
    A police whistleblower in a corrupt political system Frank Scott Both major political parties in West Australia espouse open and accountable government when they are in opposition, however once their side of politics is able to form Government, the only thing that changes is that they move to the opposite side of the Chamber and their roles are merely reversed. The opposition loves the whistleblower while the government of the day loathes them. It was therefore refreshing to see that in 2001 when the newly appointed Attorney General in the Labor government, Mr Jim McGinty, promised that his Government would introduce whistleblower protection legislation by the end of that year. He stated that his legislation would protect those whistleblowers who suffered victimization and would offer some provisions to allow them to seek compensation. How shallow those words were; here we are some sixteen years later and yet no such legislation has been introduced. Below I have written about the effects I suffered from trying to expose corrupt senior police officers and the trauma and victimization I suffered which led to the loss of my livelihood. Whilst my efforts to expose corrupt police officers made me totally unemployable, those senior officers who were subject of my allegations were promoted and in two cases were awarded with an Australian Police Medal. I describe my experiences in the following pages in the form of a letter to West Australian parliamentarian Rob Johnson. See also my article “The rise of an organised bikie crime gang,” September 2017, http://www.bmartin.cc/dissent/documents/Scott17b.pdf 1 Hon.
    [Show full text]
  • Hen It Comes to Brian Burke, I Can't Get Past That Panama Hat. What Sort of Person Wears Headgear Like That to Face Corruption
    Essay Life of Brian by PAUL BARRY hen it comes to brian burke, i can’t get past that panama hat. what sort of person wears headgear like that to face corruption charges? surely only someone who has tickets on himself, who thinks he’s special and who wants to show he doesn’t care how the world judges him. But, of course, Western Australia’s most famous ex-premier does care, and deeply so. That’s why he broke down in tears when the latest criminal case against him was thrown out of court in Perth last month, and why he tried his best to convince me before the trial that he was not only innocent but the victim of a witch-hunt. Burke struck me, during those two off-the-record con- there’s never been any brown paper bags and there’s not one versations, as a rather pathetic figure, a man in denial. He charge of money changing hands or anything financial.” seemed to be living in his own little bubble, no longer able “Brian has never paid anyone to do anything,” says to listen to anybody except his supporters. This stunning another of his mates, the knockabout horse trainer and ex- court victory reveals, though, just why he has stuck so close talkback host Bob Maumill. “He doesn’t need to. He knows to friends and family. who to ring and what to say when he rings.” And ring people It’s no secret that Burke and his supporters are adamant Burke certainly did. In 2006, he made around 13,000 phone he’s never done anything wrong: not when, as premier, he calls (more than 40 per day), which were secretly recorded rorted his travel allowance to the tune of $17,000, for which and analysed by a team of 40 people at the CCC.
    [Show full text]
  • COURT AC, HON. RICHARD FAIRFAX Richard Was Born in 1947
    COURT AC, HON. RICHARD FAIRFAX Richard was born in 1947 to Lady Rita and Sir Charles Court. He was educated at Dalkeith Primary School and Hale School and graduated with a Commerce degree from the University of Western Australia in 1968. He worked in the United States of America at the American Motors Corporation and Ford Motor Company to gain further management training. On his return to Western Australia he started a number of small businesses in fast food and boating. Richard was MLA (Liberal Party) for Nedlands WA from 1982 – 2001 and was Premier and Treasurer of Western Australia from 1993 – 2001. He retired from Parliament after 19 years as the Member for Nedlands. He was appointed Companion in the General Division of the Order of Australia in June 2003 for service to the Western Australian Parliament and to the community, particularly the indigenous community, and in the areas of child health research and cultural heritage and to economic development through negotiating major resource projects including new gas markets furthering the interests of the nation as a whole. MN ACC meterage / boxes Date donated CIU file Notes 2677 7394A 15.8 m 25 May 2001 BA/PA/02/0066 Boxes 13, 14, 17, 42, 59 and 83 returned to donor in 2012 SUMMARY OF CLASSES FILES – listed as received from donor Box No. DESCRIPTION ACC 7394A/1 FILES :Mining Act and royalties 1982-1990; Mining Association Chamber of Mines 1982-1992; Iron ore mining, magnesium plant; Mining Amendment Act 1987-1990; Mines dept 1988-1992;Chamber of Mines; Mining 1983- 1987; Mining 1988-1992;Small
    [Show full text]
  • Day of the Panther Tail Credits
    Jason Blade will return in Strike of the Panther CAST Jason Blade Edward John Stazak William Anderson John Stanton Jim Baxter Jim Richards Damien Zukor Michael Carman Colin Flinders Zale Daniel Constable Lambert Matthew Quartermaine Gemma Anderson Paris Jefferson Linda Anderson Linda Megier Chief Inspector Hudson Brian Fitzsimmons Boat Salesman Denis Broad Triad Boss Own Mun Hong Triad Interpreter Kim Yap Co-Executive Producer Beverly Wood Stunts & Fights by: Douglas 'Rocky' McDonald Phil Meacham Jim Richards Josef Schwaiger Additional Fighters Peter Bernard Lindsay Bijoux Rene Perrin Joe Ravat Mark Southworth Allan Whitford Chinese Fighters Andrew Lim Michael Chew Jeffrey Goh Sung Jean Ough Tae Jin Park Michael Ho CREW Supervising Stunt Co-ordinator Guy Norris Stunt Co-ordinator Douglas 'Rocky' McDonald Assistant Stunt Co-ordinator Jim Richards Fight Co-ordinator's Assistant Josef Schwaiger Safety Officer Art Thompson Production Manager Deb Copland Production Co-ordinator Susie Campbell Production Assistants Julie Annderson Andrew Martin-Weber First Assistant Director Stuart Wood Second Assistant Director Christopher Lynch Third Assistant Director Connie Mercurio Continuity Chris O'Connell Location Manager Liz Kirkham Asst. Location Managers Peter Armstrong Terry Owen Unit Manager Simon Hawkins Unit Runner Nic Sadler Unit Publicist Andrew Martin-Weber Stills Photographer Skip Watkins Second Unit Director Stuart Wood Camera Operator Carol Buralli Focus Puller Marc Edgecombe Clapper Loader Anne Benzie Sound Recordist David Glasser Boom Operators
    [Show full text]
  • 8 November 1988
    4499 Tuesday, 8 November 1988 TH E PR ES IDENT (Hon Clive Griffiths) took the Chair at 3.30 pm, and read prayers. BILLS (3) - ASSENT Messages ftom the Governor received and read notifying assent to the following Bills - 1. Skeleton Weed and Resistant Grain Insects (Eradication Funds) Amendment Bil 2. Liquor Amendment Bill 3. Justices Amendment Bill PETITION - WESTERN AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM Percy Markham Collection -Sale Opposition The following petition bearing the signatures of 32 persons was presented by Hon Barry House - The Konourable the President and Members of the Legislative Council of the Parliament of Western Australia assembled. The undersigned citizens of Western Australia express gravest possible disquiet over the State Government's decision to allow the sale, by the Museum authorities of the Percy Markham collection of vintage and veteran cars. Accordingly, we - (1) Urge the Government to abandon all plans to sell or otherwise dispose of the vehicles; and (2) Call on all Members of Parliament, regardless of their political affiliation, to support the Bill currently before the Legislative Council which seeks to prohibit the break-up of the Markham Collection. And your petitioners as in duty bound will ever pray. [See paper No 564.] A similar petition was presented by Hon P.G. Pendal (75 persons). [See paper No 565.] PETITION - PROSTITUTION LegalisationProposal - Objection A petition bearing 504 signatures and arguing against the proposed legalisation of prostitution was presented by Hon J.N. Caldwell. [See paper No 566.] PETITION - AGED FederalPension Reduction Decision - Concern The following petition bearing the signatures of 15 persons was presented by Hon P.G.
    [Show full text]
  • Collection Name
    J S Battye Library of West Australian History Private Archives – Collection Listing RESTRICTED MN 1301 Acc. 7153A SIR CHARLES COURT COLLECTION Charles Walter Michael Court was born in Sussex, England, on September 29, 1911, and migrated to Australia with his parents while a baby. The family settled in Perth and Sir Charles attended primary school in Leederville and then Perth Boys’ School. He was interested in music from an early age and joined the RSL Memorial Band at the age of 12. A talented cornet player he won the brass solo division of the 1928 national band competition. His interest in music was a lifelong passion and he played wind instruments in several orchestras. After leaving school, Sir Charles studied accountancy, becoming a founding partner in the firm Hendry, Rae and Court in 1938 where he retained an office until he was well into his 80s. In 1936, he married Rita Steffanoni and, in 1940, enlisted in the army as a private. Sir Charles rose to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel by the time of his discharge in 1946, after distinguished service in the Pacific. He had five sons, Victor, Barry, Ken, Richard and Geoffrey with his first wife Rita, who died in 1992. In 1953, Sir Charles began his political career by winning the seat of Nedlands. Within three years of his election to parliament, Sir Charles became Deputy Leader of the Opposition, and when the Liberal – Country Party government of David Brand was elected in 1959, he became Minister for Industrial Development, the North West and Railways. Under his tenure as minister, the Ord River scheme progressed, the mining industry began in the Pilbara and the Kwinana industrial strip developed.
    [Show full text]
  • Electronic Document
    GriffithREVIEW47.indb 1 21/01/2015 3:43 pm Praise for Griffith Review ‘Essential reading for each and every one of us.’ Readings ‘A varied, impressive and international cast of authors.’ The Australian ‘Griffith Review is a must-read for anyone with even a passing interest in current affairs, politics, literature and journalism. The timely, engaging writing lavishly justifies the Brisbane-based publication’s reputation as Australia’s best example of its genre.’ The West Australian ‘There is a consistently high standard of writing: all of it well crafted or well argued or well informed, as befits the various genres.’ Sydney Review of Books ‘This quarterly magazine is a reminder of the breadth and talent of Australian writers. Verdict: literary treat.’ Herald Sun ‘Griffith Review editor Julianne Schultz is the ultra-marathoner of Australian cultural life.’ Canberra Times ‘At a time when long form journalism is under threat and the voices in our public debate are often off-puttingly condescending, hectoring and discordant, Griffith Review is the elegant alternative.’ Booktopia Buzz ‘Griffith Review is a consistently good journal. There is some terrific writing on display as well as variety and depth to the issues being grappled with.’ The Age ‘Australia’s most important literary essay magazine.’ Courier-Mail ‘At once comfortable and thought-provoking, edgy and familiar, [it] will draw the reader through its pages.’ Australian Book Review ‘Griffith Review is a wonderful journal. It’s pretty much setting the agenda in Australia and fighting way above its weight… You’re mad if you don’t subscribe.’ Phillip Adams ‘Once again, Griffith Review has produced a stunning volume of excellent work.
    [Show full text]
  • WA Inc. This Was a General Reference to a Number of Financial Arrangements Which the Government Had Made with Business Which Many in Our Community Viewed As Improper
    Chapter Three W.A. Inc.: Why Didn't We Hear The Alarm Bells? Bevan Lawrence Copyright 1994 by The Samuel Griffith Society. All rights reserved. People for Fair and Open Government (PFOG) was established in Western Australia in the winter of 1989 following the re–election of the ALP Government in February, 1989. We lobbied for a Royal Commission of Enquiry into what had then become known as WA Inc. This was a general reference to a number of financial arrangements which the Government had made with business which many in our community viewed as improper. The lobby group came into existence because neither the press nor the Parliament had been able to uncover or stop any of these improper transactions. It believed that there had been a significant cover–up of these improper deals, including what became known as the Rothwells Petrochemical deal. PFOG was hopeful that if the Government was exposed, further public funds would not be wasted. It failed in that objective but ultimately, in November 1990, a Royal Commission of Enquiry was called by the then Premier of Western Australia, Dr Carmen Lawrence, into the major transactions. This Commission of Enquiry was called when the ALP Government's voter support plunged to an all time low of 22 per cent, when the West Australian Ombudsman had called for a public enquiry following dramatic revelations in a court case, and when evidence was adduced through two Legislative Council parliamentary committees, and after The West Australian newspaper had finally campaigned for such an enquiry for about three weeks.
    [Show full text]
  • ABC Radio National — Peter Dowding Interview
    ABC Radio National — Peter Dowding Interview INTERVIEW WITH PETER DOWDING ABC Radio National — Premiers Past — Sunday, 18 December 2011 ANDREW DODD: Today on Premier’s Past, we meet Peter Dowding, the Labor Premier of Western Australia from 1988 to 1990. Peter Dowding was the leader just after Brian Burke, the Premier who would later go to prison, and just before Carmen Lawrence, the nation’s first female Premier. It was a period dominated by the scandals known as WA Inc, and Dowding was right in the thick of things as the government did increasingly desperate corporate deals with characters like Alan Bond and Laurie Connell. Peter Dowding took on the role after Brian Burke chose to step down, but he had to bide his time before taking over. PETER DOWDING: Oh, it was really quite bizarre and very uncomfortable. Brian, as always, wanted to orchestrate the whole thing, and to his own personal climax, and it was always, therefore, going to be very difficult to be a sort of Premier-in-waiting. I mean, unless I’d hopped on a plane, basically, and gone oversees, I was going to be around for that period between December and February, and he was insistent that he wanted to do his term through to a complete conclusion for his, you know, autobiographical date. ANDREW DODD: It seemed that he wanted to notch up the five-year time line. PETER DOWDING: Look, the whole thing was orchestrated, and from that time on, it became clear over the couple of years that I was there that Brian was always in the background wheeling and dealing and doing deals with the feds.
    [Show full text]
  • Brian Burke at His Home in Trigg Beach with Wife Sue, and Grandkids William and Amelie in 2015. Brian Burke Memoir a Tumultuous
    Brian Burke at his home in Trigg Beach with wife Sue, and grandkids William and Amelie in 2015. Brian Burke memoir A Tumultuous Life set to ruffle WA politics Linda Parri, PerthNow January 22, 2017 12:05am THE shadow of twice-jailed former WA premier Brian Burke will loom large over the State once again with the release of a revealing 550-page tell-all book about his controversial life. A Tumultuous Life is set to send shock waves through the West Australian political establishment, with Burke saying his account would be “absolutely truthful” with “nothing left out”. The autobiography includes his dealings with current members of parliament, more than a decade after he was forced to resign from the Labor Party following the Corruption and Crime Commission inquiry into his activities as a lobbyist. 1 “The autobiography will reopen some wounds and I hope that it will heal some others. I have written it with honesty and candour. It is what it is,” he said, In an exclusive interview with The Sunday Times, Mr Burke — the Labor premier during the WA Inc era of the 1980s — conceded he had made “mistakes”, but said he had “nothing” to apologise for to the people of this State. The father of six also opened up about the emotional toll of his time behind bars, with the book beginning with a description of his degrading arrival at Canning Vale Prison in 1994 after he was jailed for rorting travel expenses. Brian Burke with Alan Bond after the America's Cup win. “Take your clothes off Burke.
    [Show full text]
  • Australia Dossier by Lydia Cherry
    Click here for Full Issue of EIR Volume 18, Number 21, May 31, 1991 Australia Dossier by Lydia Cherry A glimpse of Australian powerbrokers Smith, a Melbourne academic at the One investigation into financial misdeeds has already forced Phillip Institute: of Technology. Speaking on April 18, Miss Smith Prime Minister Bob Hawke to fire a confidant. charged that from her public accounts inquiry, she was convinced that "there are extremely powerful and privileged people favored [in tax avoidance] who An ongoing investigation before has also been called to testify in an may have some sort of control over the Western Australia Inc. Royal investigation that revolves around governments in as far as they provide Commission has forced Prime Minis­ Burke's use of a multimillion-dollar political funding." ter Bob Hawke to sack one of his account which may have been used She demanded that the names of "mates," the current ambassador to in paybacks, tax avoidance schemes, those who devised and benefited from Ireland and former West Australian and money laundering. schemes to withhold taxes be made premier, Brian Burke. Hawke had in­ Another party in the investigation public. sisted that there was no basis for the is Perth businessman Yosse Golberg, Smith's allegations then led the dismissal; other Labour Party offi­ who is closely associated with the in­ House Standing! Committee on Fi­ cials, however, had maintained that fluential Leibler family in Melbourne nance and Public Administration to Hawke's inaction had caused untold (one of Prime Minister Hawke's best extend its investigation of internation­ political damage to the government, friends, by his own account, is World al profit shifting into an examination and Hawke finally gave in.
    [Show full text]