Judge takes stand behind closed doors in Stella Maris inquiry legal stoush

A FEDERAL Court judge has taken the stand behind closed doors in disciplinary proceedings against two lawyers caught up in a political scandal which claimed the scalp of former Territory Labor leader Delia Lawrie in 2015.

Supreme Court Justice Stephen Southwood ruled against Delia Lawrie in proceedings in 2015. Picture: Patrina Malone

A FEDERAL Court judge has taken the stand behind closed doors in disciplinary proceedings against two lawyers caught up in a political scandal which claimed the scalp of former Territory Labor leader Delia Lawrie in 2015.

Alistair Wyvill SC and Cathy Spurr were part of Ms Lawrie’s legal team during a failed attempt to quash a report critical of her conduct in granting a peppercorn lease of the old Stella Maris site to Unions NT.

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The Law Society has accused the pair of hatching a plan to disengage from and then discredit Commissioner John Lawler’s inquiry which ruled Labor ministers acted improperly in the granting of the lease.

In a hearing before the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal on Monday, Mr Wyvill’s lawyer Cris Cureton applied to have the court closed while Federal Circuit Court judge Tony Young gave evidence.

Mr Cureton said the application was based on the fact he intended to ask Justice Young questions about the “fairness” of a hearing presided over by Supreme Court Justice Stephen Southwood when Justice Young was acting for Ms Lawrie.

“No one’s going to suggest that his honour won’t be seeking to tell the truth but it does put his honour in fairly difficult position,” he said

“Let’s just acknowledge the very unusual nature of this situation where one has a judge of one court asked to express views about a member of another court within a very small legal community,” he said.

“Indeed someone has told me they work in the same court building, even though it’s in different courts — indeed on the same floor of the same court building I’m told — that puts the judge in a very difficult position.”

But Arthur Moses SC, appearing for the Law Society, argued against closing the court, saying the proposed cross examination should not be allowed anyway.

“We would be objecting to the evidence of this witness about what he thinks of the fairness of the matter, it’s got nothing to do with anything in these proceedings,” he said.

“Certainly Mr Wyvill doesn’t give evidence that he did what he did or expressed views that he did because this witness told him something that led him to believe this.”

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The tribunal ultimately ordered the court be closed “on the express basis that it is to be reviewed after the cross examination is concluded”.

The hearing continues.

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