- A star from the early Hollywood movies, Mae West was once asked “What is the problem with today’s youth?” To which she lasciviously answered, “The problem with today’s youth is that he doesn’t arrive until four this afternoon.” Under the Commonwealth’s Sex Discrimination Act 1984 that joke might be unlawful. That answer perhaps sums up the dilemma in the workplace of what is okay and what isn’t to discuss or do in the workplace in modern Australia
The definition of sexual harassment under the just mentioned Act is found in section 28A. [...] Continue Reading…
 Josephine Kelly |
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AUSTRALIAN National University academic Desmond Ball recently highlighted one little-known feature of the life of former High Court judge Herbert Vere Evatt.
When he was minister for external affairs in the late 1940s, Evatt either knew about or turned a blind eye to alleged Soviet agents in his office.
Evatt was a Labor member of the NSW parliament from 1925 to 1930, a justice of the High Court of Australia from 1930 to 1940 and a member of the House of Representatives from 1940 to 1960, where he held offices including attorney-general, minister for external affairs and leader of the opposition. He was chief justice of the Supreme Court of NSW from 1960 to 1962. [...] Continue Reading…
In 2010 I was elected as Patron of the St John’s College Student’s Club. As Patron I established an annual essay prize. The first was on the topic of Richard O’Connor, an old boy of the College ,a draftsman of the Australian Constitution and a member of the first High Court of Australia. The winning entry was by Zac Thompson. Zac’s essay is set out below. Patrick O’Sullivan and Anna Pejovic were the two runners’-up.
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FR. LES CASHEN ESSAY COMPETITION 2010
GREAT God of Nations, throned on high,
And yet to us for ever nigh,
The Federal cause be pleased to bless,
And crown the movement with success
This stanza by federalist Reverend Professor Gosman emotively reflects the unique zeitgeist experienced in Australia in the formative years of its federation. The twilight of Australia’s nineteenth century was an era in which the ideals of upstanding statesmen came to the fore, crafting a new nation and defining a distinctive Australian identity. This push by notable individuals for governmental reform is a trait of almost every federal nation in modern history, Australia included. In some, such as the US and Germany, these individuals are sanctified as ‘founding fathers’, and although such people existed in Australia, they are less easily recognised today. Justice Richard Edward O’Connor was one Australian statesman who toiled for federation based on principles of egalitarianism, justice, rationality and democracy. |
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On The Case By Jeffrey Phillips
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1. In the ABC Insiders’ compere Barry Cassidy’s new book called, “Party Thieves” (Melbourne University Press), former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is said to have referred to the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon as “Spanky Banky”. However, New South Wales Supreme Court Justice Michael Adams, in a series of decisions , whilst on secondment to the United Nations’ internal employee tribunal , the United Nations Dispute Tribunal( UNDT) has given some UN officials a thorough spanking. (See Betucci ats Secretary-General of the United Nations Judgment Order No. 59(NY/2010)/Rev.1. Justice Adams who a few years ago, delivered a leading case on gross workplace bullying (Naidu ats Group 4 Securitas Pty Limited & Anor [2005] NSWSC 618) was not going to be bullied by some unknown UN officials unwilling to submit to the orders of their own tribunal. |
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