Sir Ronald Wilson Lecture the Changing Experience of LGBTQI People with Respect to Their Political and Legal Rights in Australia

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Sir Ronald Wilson Lecture the Changing Experience of LGBTQI People with Respect to Their Political and Legal Rights in Australia Francis Burt Law Education Programme Sir Ronald Wilson Lecture The changing experience of LGBTQI people with respect to their political and legal rights in Australia ABOUT THE PRESENTER INFORMATION: Jeremy Curthoys was appointed to the Supreme Court of Western Australia on 10 February 2014, after serving Date: two and a half years as a Judge of the District Court. Wednesday, 8 August 2018 Justice Curthoys graduated with a Bachelor of Time: Jurisprudence (Honours) (1978) and a Bachelor of 5.30pm to 7.00pm Laws (1979) from the University of Western Australia. Cost: He also graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from FREE the University of Western Australia and a Master of Laws from Murdoch University. Venue: Central Park Justice Curthoys was admitted to practice in Western Australia in December Conference Centre - Theatrette, 1980. He completed his articles with Parker & Parker. Justice Curthoys left 152-158 St Georges Terrace, Parker & Parker in June 1984 and worked for Freshfields in London. Perth WA 6000 In 1985 he returned to Perth and commenced practice at the Independent Registrations: Bar. He was appointed to the District Court from John Toohey Chambers. Register online at Justice Curthoys has written or edited books on: advocacy; wills, probate lawsocietywa.asn.au/swl-registration/ and administration; and civil procedure. Justice Curthoys is President of the State Administrative Tribunal. Year 12 Politics and Law ATAR Course Syllabus Item to be Addressed: Accountability and rights • the changing experience of a particular group with respect to their political and legal rights in Australia. Sponsored by USE OF PHOTOGRAPHY: The Society reserves the right to use photography and filming from its events for future promotional use. Please advise a Society staff member at each event if you wish to opt out. lawsocietywa.asn.au lawsocietywa.asn.au.
Recommended publications
  • Annual Report | Page the Library Board of Western Australia 1
    2019–2020 ANNUAL REPORT | PAGE THE LIBRARY BOARD OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA 1 Annual Report 2019–2020 of the Library Board of Western Australia 68th Annual Report of the Board Annual Report 2019–2020 Statement of Compliance of the Library Board of Western Australia The State Library of Western Australia Annual Report 2019–2020 of the Library Board of Western Australia 68th Annual Report of the Board 68th Annual Report of the Board To Hon. David Templeman MLA R State Library staff member and a patron in Minister for Culture and the Arts the Foyer of the State Library building, March 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic had a profound In accordance with Section 61 of the Financial Perth Cultural Centre effect on all Western Australians, especially Management Act 2006, and in fulfillment of 25 Francis Street those that do not have access to a computer Perth Western Australia 6000 obligations imposed on the Board by the Library or the Internet at home. While the State Library Board of Western Australia Act 1951, we hereby was closed to the general public, a service was CONTACT US submit for your information and presentation to made available for those in the community that tel (08) 9427 3111 Parliament the Annual Report of the Library Board did not have access so that they could engage tel 1800 198 107 (WA country callers) of Western Australia for the year ended 30 June 2020. with government service and support providers, fax (08) 9427 3256 email [email protected] seek employment and stay in touch with family This Report has been prepared in accordance with and friends.
    [Show full text]
  • The Toohey Legacy: Rights and Freedoms, Compassion and Honour
    The Toohey Legacy: rights and freedoms, compassion and honour Introduction This year is the 25th anniversary of the Mabo decision, in which the late John Toohey played a significant role. It is fitting, therefore, that I commence with a reference to Malo’s Law which was oft repeated during the evidence in that case: Malo tag mauki mauki, Teter mauki mauki. Malo tag aorir aorir, Teter aorir aorir. Malo tag tupamait tupamait, Teter tupamait tupamait Malo keeps his hands to himself; he does not touch what is not his. He does not permit his feet to carry him Towards another man’s property. His hands are not grasping He holds them back. He does not wander from his path. He walks on tiptoe, silent, careful, Leaving no sign to tell that This is the way he took. Malo is the God, in the form of an octopus, who gave the Meriam people the laws they live by. He laid his tentacles down on the Island of Mer, creating the 1 8 tribes of Mer and he gave them the rule that they should not trespass on one another’s lands. Consistently with Malo’s law, I acknowledge that this event is occurring on the traditional land of the Whadjuk People of the Nyungar Nation. I acknowledge their elders and thank them for welcoming us onto this site alongside the Derbal Yerrigan1. Eleanor Roosevelt said that “great minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events, small minds discuss people”. The focus of this address is upon the ideas discussed by the Honourable John Leslie Toohey AC QC, expressed in his judgments and occasional lectures.
    [Show full text]
  • Sir R Wilson Lecture Single Space
    SIR RONALD WILSON LECTURE 19 MAY 2011 THE DELIVERY OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE: BUILDING ON THE PAST TO MEET THE CHALLENGES OF THE FUTURE INTRODUCTION Mr President, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen. It is a very great honour to have been asked to deliver the Sir Ronald Wilson Lecture this year, although I appreciate that I am very much the second choice, and that I only got the gig because his Honour the Chief Justice is in Europe, attending a Court of the Future Program on courthouse design in the perhaps over-optimistic expectation that what he learns will be useful when, or if, the Supreme Court is provided with new accommodation of an appropriate standard to go with the 1903 Courthouse and to replace our tenancy in the former Royal Commission into WA Incorporated premises in an office building in the city. Of course, the mention of those premises recalls another link to Sir Ronald Wilson who, with the Hon Justice Kennedy, seconded from the Court, and the then recently retired judge, the Hon Peter Brinsden QC, served on that Royal Commission, which made such momentous findings on a wide range of Government activities and the people involved in them. I feel particularly intimidated when I observe that previous presenters of this lecture include people such as Sir Ronald himself, the Rt Hon Lord MacKay of Clashfern, the Rt Hon Sir Ninian Stephen, the Rt Hon Sir Zelman Cowen, Justice Michael Kirby, as he then was, and others, including local luminaries, the Hon Justice Robert French, as he then was, the Hon Justice Carmel McLure, Chief Judge Antoinette Kennedy, and the Hon Justice Michael Barker.
    [Show full text]
  • Situating Women Judges on the High Court of Australia: Not Just Men in Skirts?
    Situating Women Judges on the High Court of Australia: Not Just Men in Skirts? Kcasey McLoughlin BA (Hons) LLB (Hons) A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, the University of Newcastle January 2016 Statement of Originality This thesis contains no material which has been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma in any university or other tertiary institution and, to the best of my knowledge and belief, contains no material previously published or written by another person, except where due reference has been made in the text. I give consent to the final version of my thesis being made available worldwide when deposited in the University's Digital Repository, subject to the provisions of the Copyright Act 1968. Kcasey McLoughlin ii Acknowledgments I am most grateful to my principal supervisor, Jim Jose, for his unswerving patience, willingness to share his expertise and for the care and respect he has shown for my ideas. His belief in challenging disciplinary boundaries, and seemingly limitless generosity in mentoring others to do so has sustained me and this thesis. I am honoured to have been in receipt of his friendship, and owe him an enormous debt of gratitude for his unstinting support, assistance and encouragement. I am also grateful to my co-supervisor, Katherine Lindsay, for generously sharing her expertise in Constitutional Law and for fostering my interest in the High Court of Australia and the judges who sit on it. Her enthusiasm, very helpful advice and intellectual guidance were instrumental motivators in completing the thesis. The Faculty of Business and Law at the University of Newcastle has provided a supportive, collaborative and intellectual space to share and debate my research.
    [Show full text]
  • The University of Western Australia Law Review: the First Seventy Years
    1 THE UNIVERSITY OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA LAW REVIEW: THE FIRST SEVENTY YEARS MICHAEL BLAKENEY* I FOUNDATION The two oldest Australian university law journals are the UWA Law Review and the Queensland University Law Review, both founded in 1948. In his foreword to the first issue of the UWA Law Review the Hon. Sir John Dwyer, Chief Justice of Western Australia, noting the coming of age of the School of Law in the University of Western Australia, which had been established in 1927 and explained that “now in the enthusiasm of early maturity it has planned the publication of an Annual Law Review of a type and on a scale not hitherto attempted in any Australian University.” The Chief Justice in his foreword identified the desirable objectives of the Law Review. He wrote: It is too much to-day to expect statutory recognition, prompt and adequate, by legislatures almost exclusively preoccupied with economic questions. It is necessary to have a considerable body of informed opinion to show the needs and point the way; and the creation of such a body depends in turn on an explanation and understanding of our institutions, an exposition of the underlying principles of our laws and customs, an examination of their moral sources, a comparison with other legal systems, a criticism_ of applications and interpretations that may appear to be dubious. There is no better mode of achieving such ends than a Review devoted to such purposes, and this first number is a satisfactory step in the right direction. The example set in 1948 by the Universities of Western Australia and Queensland in establishing their law reviews was followed by the University of Sydney in 1953, when it established the Sydney Law Review and in 1957 with the establishment of the Melbourne University Law Review; the University of Tasmania Law Review in 1958; the Adelaide Law Review in 1960 and the Australian National University’s Federal Law Review in 1964.
    [Show full text]
  • Eureka Street Is Published Fortnightly Online, a Minimum of 24 Times Per
    18 October 2007 Volume: 17 Issue: 20 Politics is a team sport John Warhurst ...........................................1 The human rights cost of intelligence activities Bill Calcutt ............................................. 4 A key role for Australia in Burma’s democratisation Tony Kevin .............................................8 Burma’s new generation political activists Carol Ransley and Toe Zaw Latt ............................. 11 Echoes of Calwell in Sudanese refugee cut David Holdcroft ......................................... 15 Building relationships settles refugees Michele Gierck .......................................... 18 Nothing new in cynicism towards politicians Brian Matthews ......................................... 21 Gutted kiwis eat humble pie Peter Matheson ......................................... 25 Kevin Rudd’s political cowardice Scott Stephenson ....................................... 29 Sir Ronald Wilson’s life in compartments Frank Brennan .......................................... 33 Playwrights finger reality missed by politicians Richard Flynn .......................................... 37 Death and birth set cerebral thriller in motion Tim Kroenert ........................................... 40 Perhaps dying isn’t hard after all Peter Matheson and Cassandra O’Loughlin ...................... 43 Keeping families safe from violence Trish McNamara ........................................ 45 Eureka Street is published fortnightly Responsibility for editorial content is online, a minimum of 24 times
    [Show full text]
  • The Accountability of the Courts Year 12 Teacher Resource
    Francis Burt Law Education Programme THE ACCOUNTABILITY OF THE COURTS YEAR 12 TEACHER RESOURCE This resource addresses the following Year 12 Stage 3 Politics and Law syllabus item: 3B: The accountability of the courts through the appeals process through parliamentary scrutiny and legislation through transparent processes and public confidence through the censure and removal of judges Part A: Introduction, Appeals and Legislation Possible Preliminary Discussion Points a) Discuss what the term ‘the accountability of the courts’ actually means. b) In what ways should judges be held accountable? c) What problems may occur if the accountability of the judiciary was the task of the executive arm of government? Introduction “The independence of the judiciary lies at the heart of the rule of law and hence of the administration of justice itself. The essence of judicial independence is that the judge in carrying out his judicial duties, and in particular in making judicial decisions, is subject to no other authority than the law.... In particular, the judiciary should be free from the control of the executive government or of any department or branch of it.”1 “No judge could be expected to carry out judicial tasks with impartiality if one side in the dispute had the power to dismiss that judge, move the judge out of office or reduce his or her salary or could cause its elected representatives to do so. The issue was put succinctly by Australia’s former Chief Justice, Murray Gleeson, in a Boyer Lecture in December 2000 when he declared: ‘The ultimate test of public confidence in the judiciary is whether people believe that in a contest between a citizen and government they can rely upon an Australian court to hold the scales of justice evenly.’”2 “That the purpose of judicial independence was not to provide a benefit to the judiciary but to enable the judicial system to function fairly with integrity and impartiality”3 was indicated by Western Australia’s Chief Justice, the Honourable Wayne Martin AC, at a conference in New Zealand in 2011.
    [Show full text]
  • Volume I Return to an Address of the Honourable the House of Commons Dated 15 June 2010 for The
    Report of the Return to an Address of the Honourable the House of Commons dated 15 June 2010 for the Report of the Bloody Sunday Inquiry The Rt Hon The Lord Saville of Newdigate (Chairman) Bloody Sunday Inquiry – Volume I Bloody Sunday Inquiry – Volume The Hon William Hoyt OC The Hon John Toohey AC Volume I Outline Table of Contents General Introduction Glossary Principal Conclusions and Overall Assessment Published by TSO (The Stationery Office) and available from: Online The Background to Bloody www.tsoshop.co.uk Mail, Telephone, Fax & E-mail Sunday TSO PO Box 29, Norwich NR3 1GN Telephone orders/General enquiries: 0870 600 5522 Order through the Parliamentary Hotline Lo-Call: 0845 7 023474 Fax orders: 0870 600 5533 E-mail: [email protected] Textphone: 0870 240 3701 The Parliamentary Bookshop 12 Bridge Street, Parliament Square, London SW1A 2JX This volume is accompanied by a DVD containing the full Telephone orders/General enquiries: 020 7219 3890 Fax orders: 020 7219 3866 text of the report Email: [email protected] Internet: www.bookshop.parliament.uk TSO@Blackwell and other Accredited Agents Customers can also order publications from £572.00 TSO Ireland 10 volumes 16 Arthur Street, Belfast BT1 4GD not sold Telephone: 028 9023 8451 Fax: 028 9023 5401 HC29-I separately Return to an Address of the Honourable the House of Commons dated 15 June 2010 for the Report of the Bloody Sunday Inquiry The Rt Hon The Lord Saville of Newdigate (Chairman) The Hon William Hoyt OC The Hon John Toohey AC Ordered by the House of Commons
    [Show full text]
  • Seeing Visions and Dreaming Dreams Judicial Conference of Australia
    Seeing Visions and Dreaming Dreams Judicial Conference of Australia Colloquium Chief Justice Robert French AC 7 October 2016, Canberra Thank you for inviting me to deliver the opening address at this Colloquium. It is the first and last time I will do so as Chief Justice. The soft pink tones of the constitutional sunset are deepening and the dusk of impending judicial irrelevance is advancing upon me. In a few weeks' time, on 25 November, it will have been thirty years to the day since I was commissioned as a Judge of the Federal Court of Australia. The great Australian legal figures who sat on the Bench at my official welcome on 10 December 1986 have all gone from our midst — Sir Ronald Wilson, John Toohey, Sir Nigel Bowen and Sir Francis Burt. Two of my articled clerks from the 1970s are now on the Supreme Court of Western Australia. One of them has recently been appointed President of the Court of Appeal. They say you know you are getting old when policemen start looking young — a fortiori when the President of a Court of Appeal looks to you as though he has just emerged from Law School. The same trick of perspective leads me to see the Judicial Conference of Australia ('JCA') as a relatively recent innovation. Six years into my judicial career, in 1992, I attended a Supreme and Federal Courts Judges' Conference at which Justices Richard McGarvie and Ian Sheppard were talking about the establishment of a body to represent the common interests and concerns of judges, to defend the judiciary as an institution and, where appropriate, to defend individual judges who were the target of unfair and unwarranted criticisms.
    [Show full text]
  • Senior Counsel Appointments 2012
    SUPREME COURT OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA Stirling Gardens Barrack Street Perth WA 6000 __________________________________________________________________________ 28 November, 2012 MEDIA STATEMENT SENIOR COUNSEL APPOINTMENTS 2012 The Chief Justice of Western Australia, the Hon Wayne Martin AC, today announced the appointment of two Senior Counsel for 2012, after 14 applications were received. The appointments are Mr Rod Hooper and Mr Joshua Thomson. Appointment as Senior Counsel is based on eminence in the practice of law, especially in advocacy, unquestioned integrity, availability and independence. A Committee advises the Chief Justice on applications for appointment. The Committee, chaired by Chief Justice Martin, comprises the President of the Court of Appeal, the Senior Judge of the Supreme Court, the President of the State Administrative Tribunal, the Senior Judge of the Federal Court resident in Perth, the Chief Judge of the Family Court and the Chief Judge of the District Court. Mr Rod Hooper Mr Hooper was born in June 1956. He was awarded a Bachelor of Jurisprudence in 1982 and a Bachelor of Laws in 1983 from the University of Western Australia. He established a suburban law practice in 1986 and became an accredited Specialist Family Lawyer in 1992. He joined the Independent Bar in 1999, and was a foundation member of John Toohey Chambers in 2003. Mr Hooper has been President of the Family Law Practitioners’ Association for the last three years, having practised in the field of family law for more than 26 years. Mr Joshua Thomson Mr Thomson was born in July 1972. He was awarded a Bachelor of Laws (1 st Class Honours) in 1994 from the University of Western Australia, winning the Hackett Scholarship, and a Bachelor of Civil Law (1996) from Oxford University.
    [Show full text]
  • Imagereal Capture
    PREFACE EMERITUS PROFESSOR ERIC J. EDWARDS Professor Eric Edwards retired from the University of Western Australia Law School on 31 December 1980, after twenty-five years distinguished and loyal service. This volume of the Law Review is dedicated to him by his colleagues as a mark of profound respect and admiration. Professor Edwards was born in Burma in 1915. He attended the Uni- versity of Rangoon, graduating BA with a distinction in economics in 1936 and LL.B in 1939. With the outbreak of war, he volunteered for officer training; he then spent the duration of the war fighting with the British Army in the Burma and India theatres. This is a period of his life about which, being a gentle and modest man, he has always been reticent; suffice it to say that by the time he was discharged he had risen to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. For his return to civilian life he chose to be repatriated to Australia. Passing through Fremantle en route to Sydney in 1947, he came up to the University and met Professor Frank Beasley, foundation Professor and first Dean of the Law School. Beasley encouraged him to enrol here to recommence his legal career. Thus there began the long association with the Law School which was to culrninate'in his election to the Dean- ship and appointment to a Chair. His period at the Law School was a vintage one; his contemporaries included such luminaries as Sir Ronald Wilson, Sir Billy Sneddon, Mr Bob Hawke, Mr Justice Bob Jones and Mr Justice John Toohey.
    [Show full text]
  • Judges and Retirement Ages
    JUDGES AND RETIREMENT AGES ALYSIA B LACKHAM* All Commonwealth, state and territory judges in Australia are subject to mandatory retirement ages. While the 1977 referendum, which introduced judicial retirement ages for the Australian federal judiciary, commanded broad public support, this article argues that the aims of judicial retirement ages are no longer valid in a modern society. Judicial retirement ages may be causing undue expense to the public purse and depriving the judiciary of skilled adjudicators. They are also contrary to contemporary notions of age equality. Therefore, demographic change warrants a reconsideration of s 72 of the Constitution and other statutes setting judicial retirement ages. This article sets out three alternatives to the current system of judicial retirement ages. It concludes that the best option is to remove age-based limitations on judicial tenure. CONTENTS I Introduction .............................................................................................................. 739 II Judicial Retirement Ages in Australia ................................................................... 740 A Federal Judiciary .......................................................................................... 740 B Australian States and Territories ............................................................... 745 III Criticism of Judicial Retirement Ages ................................................................... 752 A Critiques of Arguments in Favour of Retirement Ages ........................
    [Show full text]