Patrick Keane Appointed To The High Court

Nov 20, 2012 Leave a Comment

The federal government has appointed the Chief Justice of the Federal Court, Patrick Keane, to the High Court.

Patrick KeaneThe Attorney-General, Nicola Roxon, made the announcement today. Keane will be the 50th person appointed to the High Court.

Keane will replace Justice John Dyson Heydon on March 1 next year. He is the Rudd-Gillard government’s fourth appointment to the seven-member court. He is 60 years old and will serve a maximum ten years on the court.

James Allsop will replace Keane as Chief Justice of the Federal Court. Allsop has been a Justice of the NSW Court of Appeal since 2008.

Keane is the Gillard government’s second appointment in the past few months. Stephen Gageler was appointed in October.

  • Listen to Nicola Roxon’s press conference announcement (24m)

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Media release by Attorney-General Nicola Roxon.

New High Court Justice and Federal Court Chief Justice

Nicole Roxon

 

I am very pleased to announce that on the recommendation of the Government, the Governor-General Her Excellency Quentin Bryce AC CVO has today appointed the Honourable Patrick Keane as Australia’s new Justice of the High Court of Australia, and the Honourable James Allsop as the next Chief Justice of the Federal Court.

Chief Justice Keane currently heads the Federal Court of Australia. He will be the 50th person appointed to the High Court since Federation.

Chief Justice Keane’s appointment will follow the retirement of the Honourable Justice John Dyson Heydon AC on 1 March 2013 after 10 years of dedicated service on the Court. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Audio, Audio2012, Gillard, High Court, Law Tagged With: , ,

Stephen Gageler Appointed Justice Of The High Court

Aug 21, 2012

The Commonwealth Solicitor-General, Stephen Gageler, has been appointed a judge of the High Court of Australia.

Stephen GagelerThe appointment was announced today by the Attorney-General, Nicola Roxon. Gageler will replace Justice William Gummow who will reach the constitutionally-mandated retirement age of 70 on October 9.

Gageler is 54 years old. If he serves until he turns 70, he will remain on the High Court until July 8, 2028.

Gageler was appointed Solicitor-General by the previous Attorney-General, Robert McClelland, in 2008. As Solicitor-General, he is the Second Law Officer to the Attorney-General. The Solicitor-General appears on behalf of the Commonwealth, especially in the High Court.

Gageler grew up in NSW, studied law at the Australian National University and completed his Master of Laws at Harvard University in 1987.

Early in his career, Gageler was an Associate to Sir Anthony Mason, a former Justice and Chief Justice of the court. It is Mason’s seat that Gageler will take. It is the position originally held by Australia’s first prime minister, Sir Edmund Barton. Like Gageler, Mason also held the position of Solicitor-General between 1964-69.

Gageler is the 49th appointment to the High Court since it was established in 1903. He replaces the last of the Hawke-Keating appointments. When Gageler takes his seat in October, the court will consist of four appointments by the Howard government, two by the Rudd government and one by the Gillard government.

Gageler’s appointment maintains the balance of three NSW judges, two from Victoria, one from Queensland and one from Western Australia. There has never been a High Court judge appointed from South Australia or Tasmania.

Media release by the Attorney-General, Nicola Roxon:

New Justice of the High Court of Australia

21 August 2012

I am pleased to announce the Governor-General Her Excellency Quentin Bryce AC CVO has today appointed Mr Stephen Gageler SC as Australia’s new Justice of the High Court of Australia following a recommendation from the Government.

Mr Gageler will be the 49th person appointed to the High Court since Federation.

Mr Gageler’s appointment will follow the retirement of the Honourable Justice William Gummow AC in October 2012 after 17 years of outstanding service to Australia’s highest court.

Mr Gageler has served as the Commonwealth Solicitor General since September 2008. He is a highly distinguished barrister and specialised in constitutional, administrative, revenue and commercial law in Sydney. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Gillard, High Court, Law Tagged With: , , , , ,

A High Court Challenge To The Murray-Darling Water Plan?

May 28, 2012

The South Australian government says the revised Murray-Darling Basin plan is unacceptable and it is preparing a legal challenge.

“We are left with no choice,” Premier Jay Weatherill said. “We must act.”

Weatherill said the government would campaign against the plan. “I have instructed our lawyers to draft a legal challenge to this plan – so that if this plan is made law, we will be ready to fight it in court.”

Media release from South Australian Labor Premier Jay Weatherill.

The Murray-Darling Basin Authority has sought a political compromise instead of being clear about who is responsible for the current state of the River Murray and what needs to be done to fix it.

The result is a revised plan which officially sanctions the over-allocation of water that has been going on for more than 40 years, damaging the Murray and threatening to destroy it.

The revised plan is unacceptable. It does not return enough water to provide for a healthy river.

It does not meet Australia’s international obligations to protect our Ramsar sites at the Coorong and Lower Lakes and at the Chowilla floodplains.

It does not recognise that South Australia’s irrigators capped their take more than 40 years ago, while upstream States continued to take more and more water – and inexplicably it removes the drinking water quality target contained in the earlier drafts.

We are left with no choice. We must act. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Federalism, High Court, S.A., Video, Water Tagged With: , ,

McHugh Calls For More Women Justices On The High Court

Oct 27, 2004

There should be more female justices on the High Court of Australia, according to Justice Michael McHugh.

Addressing a dinner hosted by the Western Australian Law Society, McHugh said that despite many changes in recent years, “one thing that has not changed in the High Court is the small percentage of cases argued in the Court by female advocates. Some of the finest arguments that I have heard in nearly 16 years on the Court have come from women advocates. Indeed, given the small number of appearances by female advocates, superior arguments by women advocates are disproportionately high.”

Noting that he was facing imminent compulsory retirement at age 70, and that 4 Justices would retire over the next 4 years, McHugh said: “These retirements will present the federal government with a remarkable opportunity to ensure, to adapt the words of Chief Justice McLachlin, that the composition of the High Court approaches an accurate reflection of the place of women within the judiciary, within the legal profession, and within Australian society more generally.” [Read more...]

Filed Under: High Court, Women Tagged With: , ,

Dyson Heydon’s Farewell Speech To The NSW Supreme Court

Feb 07, 2003

This is the text of the farewell speech delivered by Justice John Dyson Heydon to the NSW Supreme Court, preparatory to his elevation to the High Court of Australia.

Justice John Dyson Heydon’s farewell speech to the NSW Supreme Court.

Chief Justice, ladies and gentlemen:

In February the weather is steamy and enervating. There is a great temptation to go out as little as possible. That so many of you have undergone the ordeal of a journey to this Court on this occasion – having accomplished two trips already this week – is something for which I am deeply grateful. I particularly welcome retired judges from this Court, and judges of the Federal Court. [Read more...]

Filed Under: High Court, Law Tagged With: ,
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