Carmody to face Clive’s court

THE Senate inquiry into Queensland is there to cause mischief, which is Clive Palmer’s true field of expertise.

There are signs Queensland Chief Justice Tim Carmody is settling in after his appointment three months ago. Picture: Megan Taylor

JUST when everyone had moved on from the divisive appointment of Chief Justice Tim Carmody, along comes the Senate inquiry into all things Queensland.

The inquiry won’t actually achieve anything. There will be no recommendations that will be acted on by any government and its only credibility will be with critics of the Newman government.

But that’s not the point. It’s there to cause mischief, which is Clive Palmer’s true field of expertise. Palmer roped in the Greens with a few references to the environment. But it’s also been set up to look at anything that has caused problems for Premier Campbell Newman, which brings us to the Chief Justice.

Carmody’s elevation to the top job in June was as popular with lawyers as mandatory sentencing. After finishing a boots-and-all report on child protection, Carmody was made chief magistrate last September. He proved an enthusiastic supporter of the government — on bail laws, bikie laws and during a spat with Court of Appeal president Margaret McMurdo — much to the chagrin of the profession and others concerned about the separation of powers.

But Newman liked the man he dubbed a “knockabout bloke” and swept aside concerns about his ­aptitude to make him chief. The Supreme Court judges were so furious none turned up to Carmody’s welcoming ceremony.

Carmody will have to live with the tag “Newman’s man”, but he is now three months into the job and signs are that things are settling down. He has just completed a stint in the criminal trial division and from next week he will spend three weeks hearing civil cases.

There was even a first meeting of the judges last week and it passed without rancour. It’s a long way from the early days when Carmody wouldn’t even acknowledge those who greeted him around the court.

The wording of the inquiry’s terms of reference clearly has the Carmody appointment in mind. Clause 1 (b) talks about “the ­administration of the Queensland courts and judicial system insofar as it relates to cross vesting ­arrangements, with particular reference to judicial independence and separation of powers.”

At first look, some thought the PUPs had misplaced a comma. Did they only want to look at judicial independence and separation-of-powers issues in relation to cross vesting (state courts hearing commonwealth matters)?

Never mind, clause 1 (g) is there to help — the one that says “any other matter the committee considers relevant” can be included. Other clauses refer to “detention without trial” and “the administration of prisons”, which will cover the idea — now abandoned — that bikie prisoners should wear pink jumpsuits. PUP’s Queensland senator Glenn Lazarus has already said the bikie laws — the Vicious Lawless Association Disestablishment Bill 2013, now before the High Court — would be on the agenda.

“A lot of people will say that (the law) was a good thing but there are a lot of people I’ve spoken with that say that was a bad thing,’’ he told the ABC.

The increased enthusiasm for detaining pedophiles should also get a start, but don’t expect too much focus on those law and order issues. Palmer knows voters like a government that is tough on crime (or national security).

The lack of opportunities for women, though, could be a crowd pleaser. Only two women appointed as magistrates and none as judges, while the Crown law ­office has dramatically reduced the number of government briefs going to women barristers. This is happening at a time when every other jurisdiction in the country has an equitable briefing policy.

The outrage of the government senators at the inquiry might have some credibility had they not set up so many inquiries of their own into the Rudd-Gillard governments. Still the Coalition’s Senate leader Eric Abetz had a point when he railed against Lazarus’s “concerns about judicial appointments in Queensland”.

“Guess what? If you are concerned about it, run for the Queensland parliament. Use the Queensland parliament and its forums, because if you think that you can use the federal parliament’s forums to overcome what you consider to be shortcomings in the Queensland parliament, guess what? The Queensland parliament can then start adopting exactly the same tactics against Palmer United, Senator Lazarus or anyone else.”

Tit-for-tat inquiries. Now that would be fun. Sadly all we got was a comment from Queensland deputy premier Jeff Seeney that the inquiry was down to Palmer’s feud with Newman.

If the Senate inquiry can’t ­compel people like Newman, ­Carmody or Attorney-General Jarrod Bleijie, to give evidence ­— and there are serious doubts on that — it will be no more than a parade of Newman critics.

The Bar and the Law Society will participate, but it would be a surprise if they were snarky. The two most credible critics of the Carmody appointment were former solicitor-general Walter Sofronoff and former judge and corruption fighter Tony Fitzgerald. Sofronoff can claim lawyer-client privilege while Fitzgerald seems reluctant: “independent opinions on political behaviour are unwelcome in Australia and any comment I make would attract another torrent of partisan abuse,’’ he said this week.

The Senate committee’s report is due just before the state election and it will be a compendium of voter and pressure-group gripes. If it fails for want of co-operation, then Palmer can suggest those involved have something to hide; that they shut democracy down.

Either way he wins. That is, unless, the people think Clive is guilty of overreach. If that’s the case, then he might end up being the biggest loser.