Playing with fire
Here in Victoria, the heat has been on former Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Christine Nixon and her performance during the Black Saturday bushfires on 7 February last year. 174 people were killed...
View ArticleScanning Judges
One of the reasons I really liked working at the Supreme Court was that it was a bastion of intelligent eccentricity. Many of the judges were unusual people, but they were also intelligent,...
View ArticleCab ranks, smears and Greens
Let us remember that justice must be observed even to the lowest. ~Cicero In my home State of Victoria, we are about to have an election. And the campaign just got dirty (dare I suggest, “dirtier than...
View ArticleThe Victorian election result
Or: Why Distance Doesn’t Make the Heart Grow Fonder In my home State of Victoria, we have just voted for a new government. The incumbent Labor premier, John Brumby, conceded defeat the other afternoon....
View ArticleGod in the classroom
As many know, my daughter is in Prep this year. I got a note home asking me to nominate which brand of Religious Education I would like her to attend: Christian, Jewish, Muslim or Ba’hai. Fortunately I...
View ArticleSuppression and the courts
I am planning a long post on super-injunctions and celebrities in the coming weeks, but in the meantime I thought I’d have a quick look at suppression orders and the Victorian Supreme Court....
View ArticleMandatory sentencing – Throwing away the key is not the answer
In The Age today, it has been reported that the Victorian government is considering mandatory sentencing for young offenders of violent crime: The Baillieu government plans to introduce mandatory...
View ArticleWTF, fined for swearing?
The ABC reports that Victoria is bringing in laws whereby police can fine people who use indecent or offensive language: The Victorian Government plans to introduce laws this week that will give police...
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Sentencing by plebiscite
The State Government in Victoria is running a survey to find out public opinions with regard to criminal sentences in Victoria. The Government press release touts it as a grand opportunity to seek...
View ArticleThe Labor Schism
Since my post on Rudd’s announcement that he was resigning as Foreign Minister, Australian politics has now become a bear pit, at least on the Labor side. No sooner did Rudd resign than the Labor MPs...
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