Newsroom numbness … The Australian takes a misguided swipe at counsel assisting … Twitter trawl … Humour calamity … Payback for contempt threat against loose-cannon hack … Lord Eldon saddles-up for fresh student fight … Famous Brisbane brief in fresh robes … Theodora reports
It’s been all quiet at The Australian since legal affairs man Chris (The Tamil) Merritt and colleague Steve Jackson had an attack of conniptions about Richard Beasley SC, counsel assisting the Ruby Princess special commission of inquiry.
Same logic behind waving Ruby Princess disease carriers into Sydney without even checking their passports.
The incompetence of Home Affairs has long been a threat to national security. Here’s a particularly stark example. https://t.co/wwHrqTwQKj
— Bernard Keane (@BernardKeane) March 25, 2020
Nearly, three weeks later the special commission of inquiry was established. The Tamil and Jackson subsequently raked over Beasley’s Twitter account and discovered that he is a dangerous leftie, with retweets about the cruelty of neoliberal capitalism, criticism of the Morrison government for funding of private schools during the pandemic, and the dangers posed by Homes Affairs.
The pre-publication lawyers look as through they had their red pens out, because the Tamil-Jackson article included a couple of disclaimers:
“There is no suggestion that Mr Beasley’s activity on Twitter breached rule 8 [of the NSW bar rules].” – (diminishing public confidence in the legal profession).
And …
“The Australian is not suggesting that Mr Beasley’s personal views compromise his independence nor that of the commission.”
Tamil and Jackson, then picked over Beasley’s session on Justinian’s Couch, where he handled the searing questions in an appropriately mocking and detached way. For instance:
Hacks at The Australian have never had a sense of humour, so predictably Beasley’s irreverence didn’t register.
The exercise was a heavy-handed attempt to payback the special commission and Beasley for threatening a contempt charge against one of the newspaper’s prize galahs, David Penberthy.
Following evidence to the commission from NSW health official Kelly-Anne Ressler, who broke down in tears during her examination by commissioner Bret Walker, Penberthy scribbled:
“The treatment of this woman was an act of state-sponsored bastardry designed to ensure that whatever villains are found in this affair do not inhabit NSW cabinet.
It’s a taxpayer-funded show trial aimed at achieving a political end.”
Two days later, the newspaper grovelled:
“On Thursday, May 7, 2020, The Australian published an opinion piece regarding the special commission into the Ruby Princess. The article intended to be a discussion of political matters and was not intended to be critical of the inquiry itself, the commissioner or the commission’s staff. The Australian unreservedly apologises and withdraws any criticism of the commissioner or the inquiry. The Australian did not intend to call into question the commissioner’s integrity and accepts it is beyond reproach.”
A day after Tamil and Jackson did their leaden job on the counsel assisting, Jackson was at it again regurgitating much the same stuff. Too much repetition is never enough.
Drew Pavlou, the 20-year-old former Queensland University student who was suspended for two years from the campus and his studies, got a good run in the Weekend Australian’s Magazine.
The suspension followed a university rally and a riot involving a few of Pavlou’s anti-Chinese protestors and some nasty heavies who came in from outside to break-up the assembly.
The philosophy student had been campaigning on campus about Beijing’s influence and the university’s “deals” with the Chinese government. He also demanded that UQ dismiss the Chinese consul general Dr Xu Jie from his position as an adjunct professor.
Intriguingly, Pavlou’s grandparents had the name Themistocles, the Athenian general who sent the Persians on their way in 480 BC. The university ultimately compiled a 186-page dossier of allegations, including that Pavlou bullied and harassed other students and even used a black-marker from the stationery shop without paying for it.
Lord Eldon (aka Tony Morris QC) is on hand for the jejune fire-brand and his now various legal struggles. Eldon and his client abruptly walked out of a hearing of the disciplinary panel, and are now seeking $3.5 million in damages against the chancellor and vice chancellor for breach of contract, negligence, defamation, deceit and conspiracy.
Today, I launched a lawsuit against UQ, Chancellor Peter Varghese and Vice Chancellor Peter Høj for $3.5 million, seeking damages for breach of contract, negligence, defamation, deceit and conspiracy. It’s not about money, it’s about sending a message – a message they understand. pic.twitter.com/CkAZpFDl99
— Drew Pavlou 柏乐志 (@DrewPavlou) June 11, 2020
The highlight of the moment was that Eldon turned-up to the hearing wearing an academic gown – it looks like the costume worn at law faculty graduations.
Eldon has a bit of a thing about robes, having been spotted attending a judicial farewell in an “acid green” gown.
When pressed about this he explained to Justinian:
“Strictly, the privileges of being a QC – I cannot say whether this applies to SCs as well – include the right to wear a silk gown in any colour except red, which is reserved for Supreme Court judges, or purple, reserved for District and County Court judges.”
A barristers’ gown for a campus disciplinary hearing would be quite out-of-place, hence the next-best thing.
Apart from representing politician Mark Latham in the defamation action brought by Osman Faruqi, with his famous 76-page defence pleadings which were struck out by Wigney J who found the document “extraordinary”, he also appeared for other QUT students of the white-boy free-speech warrior variety, Calum Thwaites and Jackson Powell.
They got into strife over their Facebook rants after administrative assistant Cindy Prior evicted them from an Indigenous-only computer lab at the university. Prior unsuccessfully took proceedings under 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act.
Now we find the usual party room choirboys, such as Senator Sprog Paterson, have chimed in with support for Pavlou:
“It has done enormous damage to UQ’s reputation and sent the message free speech is not welcome on campus.”
The claim in the case against UQ tops the Latham effort and runs to an impressive 95-pages.