Buffalo Bruce from Darwin reports on a kerfuffle erupting around the appointment of Matthew Grant as the general manager of the recently established NT Independent Commission Against Corruption. Ghostly apparition of shuffled off chief justice … Federal Court vacancy in Perth … NT’s family friendly ICAC … “The troubles” are over for former Clutz warrior … Election deadline for appointments … Lawyer sacked over boozy partner allegations … Theodora reports
What is he doing hanging about his old gaff? Normally when judges retire, that’s it, they are gone. Yet the stories persist that Pascoe is occupying an office in the building with his long-term executive assistant.
We pressed him for answers and ultimately the court’s media person advised that the former CJ does not have an office in the building.
This is strange because others insist he has the use of an office and his executive assistant is still there.
Pascoe is a former CEO of bread and bun bakers George Weston Foods, deputy chairman of Aristocrat Poker Machines, chairman of Centrelink and an ex-foot-soldier at the old Stephen Jaques and later did insurance work for Phillips Fox.
His predecessor as Family Court CJ, Diana Bryant, does not enjoy access to chambers at the court, however Pascoe is thick with Liberal movers and shakers, so any grace and favour arrangements at the court building come as no surprise.
Dick Tracey’s royal commission into the aged care racket is up and running. It is the umpteenth inquiry into this sector and like all the others it is unlikely any recommendations will make the slightest difference to the nursing home operators and their lobbyists.
We had news in January that WA Supremo Joseph McGrath dropped out of the job of royal commissioner two months after he got the gig, citing “family reasons”.
Fresh traffic on the wires suggested that his old pal the Christian Porter has him in mind for the Federal Court to replace Justice Michael Barker who had his farewell in Perth two weeks ago.
Joseph was in the famous Porter wedding photo and they worked together at the infamous office of the WA DPP.
At first blush McGrath doesn’t seem FCA material. He sits almost exclusively in crime and single judge appeals from magistrates. He’s without significant admin, native title or corporations experience.
It’s possible he could be doing corporate crime in post-Hayne cases brought to the Federal Court by the watch-poodle ASIC.
What with Craig Colvin recuperating from surgery and Katrina Banks-Smith running a matter in Adelaide, the FCA is down to one judge in Perth.
More recent tom-toms says Darren Jackson SC has firmed as Barker’s replacement.
Lynelle Briggs, a former public servant, and on the drip for other government jobs, is the other aged care royal commissioner and got a mention in the Hayne banking royal commission.
As chair of the General Insurance Code Governance Committee, Briggs testified to Hayne and her outfit was mentioned in the final report.
“Code subscribers had conceded breaches of the Code in the course of an investigation on a further 689 occasions, and had self-reported over 13,000 breaches of the Code. Despite this, the Code Governance Committee had never exercised its powers to impose sanctions in response to those breaches.”
Some readers of the tea leaves believe this does not show wrongdoing on Briggs part, because her committee could only impose sanctions for failing to rectify breaches, rather than for mere breaches themselves.
Others are not so sure, including Marie dela Rama of the UTS Business School:
“It is clear Ms Briggs wears too many hats and discharging her duty as aged care royal commissioner is now compromised by her appearance in the Banking Royal Commission report,” she told Aged Care Insite.
Buffalo Bruce from Darwin reports on a kerfuffle erupting around the appointment of Matthew Grant as the general manager of the recently established NT Independent Commission Against Corruption.
Matthew, a former copper with the NT police and the AFP, is the brother of chief justice Michael Grant and part of the extended Grant family of sleuths and detectives.
Matthew’s partner is Judge Therese Austin, a NT magistrate.
ICAC’s jurisdiction extends to investigating courts, judicial officers, police officers and prosecutors, although there’ll be no public hearings.
Former NT bar president Johnny Lawrence was out of the blocks saying that Matthew Grant’s appointment “sends the wrong message”.
However, Chief Minister Michael Gunner says some conflicts in the territory are inevitable.
“We are a small jurisdiction and you often know everybody in the Northern Territory – it just happens.”
ICAC commissioner, Ken Fleming QC, a former Brisbane barrister, said another appointment of a person without territory connections could not be made because “they didn’t apply”.
He told the ABC the Matthew would recuse himself from any investigation that might involve his brother.
“He would be completely isolated from any such involvement. He would not know what’s going on. He would have absolutely nothing to do with it.”
Ken Fleming’s extensive CV is here, showing stints as senior trial attorney at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, then as chief prosecutor for the ICTR. Last year he was counsel assisting the Dreamworld inquest.
The inspector of the NT ICAC is Bruce McClintock SC, Eddie Obeid’s former brief. Inspector McClintock is also inspecting the NSW ICAC.
Apart from working as an NT detective, Matthew Grant spent a decade with the Federal Police and then in the operations directorate of the WA Crime and Corruption Commission.
Fleming said, Matthew would bring “fresh eyes” back to the territory.
Dale will be remembered as the former president of the Law Institute of Victoria and Clayton Utz partner, who in 2007 was accused of leaking details of his firm’s confidential inquiry into the conduct of the tobacco litigation brought by lung-cancer victim.
Shortly after he was shafted from the partnership.
Clutz acted for British American Tobacco in the litigation during which it came up with the pioneering “document retention policy”.
The inquiry led to the departure of two litigation partners who ran BAT’s defence in the smoking case, Glenn Eggleton and Richard Travers. The committee found that Eggleton had misled the court and had denied that Clayton Utz had an extensive database on smoking liability issues, while Travers’ had misused the litigation process to take advantage of the fact that Ms McCabe only had months to live.
The committee that did the investigation comprised Doug Jones, Nancy Milne and Chris Dale.
The damaging internal findings made their way to Rolah McCab’e solicitors at Slater & Gordon and from there to the pages of The Age.
After a 12-year battle fought on many fronts, including courts in NSW, Victoria, courts of appeal and the High Court, Dale and Clutz settled in June 2017.
Dale also managed to have Allan Myers QC removed as Clayton Utz brief after it was found the mighty silk had discussed the firm’s internal issues with Dale. Myers said he had no memory of the meeting.
Dr Andrew (Taco) Bell’s coronation as President of the NSW Court of Appeal takes place on February 28.
Jeff Phillips’ brother Gerard was appointed as the new president of the Workers Compensation Commission and he took up the job on January 23.
Stand by for a spate of other juicy appointments before the March 1 deadline. Indeed, it is a clear sign that the government feels it is not coming back if it starts making a stack of job announcements between now and the cut-off date.
A former senior lawyer at Mills Oakley is in the Federal Circus Court with a claim for compensation for stress, anxiety and $420,000 in lost wages and superannuation.
According to a report in Workplace Express, Fiona Clarke has commenced proceedings against S. N. Aroney & Ors trading as the partnership of Mills Oakley.
Workplace Express says not long after the lawyer was hired as a “senior counsel” on a salary of $210,000 she complained that one of the partners showed up at work in a dishevelled state, smelling of alcohol.
He allegedly held meetings at restaurants and bars, appeared at work infrequently and often departed at lunchtime without returning to the office.
She found herself doing extra work in the evenings and at weekends as a result of the partners’ drinking sprees.
She also claimed that the partner over-billed clients. After a couple of complaints to the firm’s management she was ultimately told there would be an “external inquiry” into the partner’s conduct.
Ms Clarke allegedly told the investigator that the firm’s handling of her complaint had been insufficient and shortly after the law shop terminated her employment.
She says there were no concerns about her performance prior to her dismissal, which she attributes significantly to her complaints about the booze fuelled partner.
There is a first hearing is set down for tomorrow (Feb 19) before Judge Nicholas Manousaridis.