Guilt politics can’t force true respect
When non-Indigenous people are ‘welcomed’ to country, it suggests we are being welcomed to a country that is not ours, to a country that belongs to others.
When non-Indigenous people are ‘welcomed’ to country, it suggests we are being welcomed to a country that is not ours, to a country that belongs to others.
Prosecutors put a university student on trial for rape despite being repeatedly warned it would only end up humiliating and further damaging the young woman who made the allegation.
Prominent lawyer and Crikey contributor Michael Bradley has deleted a tweet accusing defence lawyers of ‘an act of abuse’ for seeking a sexual assault complainant’s phone records.
Police who investigated Brittany Higgins’ rape claims have lost their jobs or gone on sick leave never to return in the wake of baseless accusations by ACT chief prosecutor Shane Drumgold.
Shane Drumgold says the leak of the Sofronoff Report denied him procedural fairness. So let’s interrogate that argument to see if it holds water.
Former defence minister Linda Reynolds has criticised outgoing ACT chief prosecutor Shane Drumgold for his treatment of her in the witness box during the rape trial of Bruce Lehrmann.
Shane Drumgold admits he made mistakes but explains them as part of our adversarial criminal justice system. What tosh. This lack of self-awareness is dangerous in a DPP.
I am prepared to believe Shane Drumgold thought he was serving a higher good. But this is not solely an ACT issue. We need a national Sofronoff-style inquiry.
The astonishing misconduct findings against Shane Drumgold have rung alarm bells in several states, with prosecutors accused of consistently breaking the ‘golden rule’ of disclosure.
The ACT government is under pressure to conduct an inquiry into previous cases prosecuted by Shane Drumgold, following the damning Sofronoff findings.
Original URL: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/author/janet-albrechtsen/page/25