The Snitch: Frank Zumbo a feminist? Could be a tough one to make fly

Masood Zakaria takes his bid for bail “upstairs”, a Sydney prosecutor learns a hard lesson about court transparency and “feminism” falls flat. The Snitch is here.

When you think of feminism in Australian politics, the likes of Julia Gillard, Lynda Burney and Julie Bishop spring to mind.

Less so, Frank Zumbo, who is currently appealing convictions for indecently assaulting four young women while he was the chief of staff to ex-federal Liberal MP Craig Kelly.

Zumbo’s legal team claims no sexual conduct occurred and the contact that did occur was consensual and did not meet the threshold of being indecent.

But legal argument aside, Snitch couldn’t help but cringe while listening to an hours-long audio recording played to the court, in which Zumbo can be heard telling one of the women he’s as feminist as they come and has “always been respectful to women”.

The court will ultimately decide whether his behaviour was criminal or not, but Snitch has seen feminism in action, and this certainly wasn’t it.

Frank Zumbo pictured as he arrives at Downing Centre courts for a 2023 appearance. Picture: News Corp

MASOOD ZAKARIA TAKES BAIL BID TO SUPREME COURT

It was always going to be a long shot, so Snitch doesn’t think many would have been taken by surprise when alleged Hamze murder conspiracist Masood Zakaria had his bid for bail rejected in the NSW District Court last year.

After all, this is the same man who had ended up in front of a Sydney court only after being extradited from Turkey.

But, it seems his legal team is willing to give it another crack, this time heading “upstairs” to the Supreme Court to argue their case.

And argue it they will - especially if Zakaria choses to keep his A-team of solicitor Mohammed Chahine and respected barrister Peter Lange, the latter of whom is widely regarded in the courtroom as much for his knowledge of the law as for his uber polite manner, which is well received by the judiciary.

Federal police escort Masood Zakaria through Sydney airport in 2023 after he was extradited from Turkey. Picture: Max Mason-Hubers

Details of the “draconian” conditions inside Goulburn Supermax, which were revealed in the District Court application, will no doubt be aired again in the Supreme Court, as will the defence argument that the case against Zakaria is a weak one that is “doomed to fail”.

Snitch won’t dare pre-judge the outcome, but you can be sure we’ll be watching with great interest.

TRANSPARENCY IS KEY

A Sydney prosecutor has found out the hard way just how serious our courts are about transparency, after failing to have his name suppressed in a case where he was found to have improperly coached an alleged rape victim about her evidence ahead of a trial.

Director of Public Prosecutions solicitor advocate Thomas Buckingham received a verbal shellacking from a District Court judge after his mistake (it was found not to have been a deliberate move on Buckingham’s part) was originally revealed, but avoided public scrutiny after the judge agreed to suppress his name for five years.

But when the same application was made to the Court of Criminal Appeal this week, the state’s two most esteemed judges - Chief Justice Andrew Bell and Justice Julie Ward - were having none of it.

In a published judgment, they dismissed the DPP’s application to have pseudonym orders imposed in the CCA, then further refused Buckingham’s request for a non-publication order, even after accepting his mental health might suffer because of it.

In doing so, they acknowledge the long-held legal principle that suppression orders should be a last resort, used sparingly, and only in cases where exceptional circumstances exist.

We’ll chalk that up to a smashing win for open justice.

Frank Zumbo outside Downing Centre Court.

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Originally published as The Snitch: Frank Zumbo a feminist? Could be a tough one to make fly