LACK OF CONSULTATION IN I.R. JUDGE APPOINTMENT- LIBS

Attorney-General Michael Atkinson has today been forced to admit that he failed to comply with the law when the government appointed the sister of a Labor faction leader as judge of the Industrial Relations court without "proper consultation>". Mr Lawson said that newly appointed Industrial Relations Court judge Leonie Farrell is the sister of Labor right-faction convenor and union secretary Don Farrell. He said the Fair Work Act requires that “before” a judge is assigned to be a judge of the Industrial Court: “the Attorney-General must consult with the Senior Judge of the [Industrial] Court and the Chief Judge of the District Court about the proposed assignment”. “A proclamation appeared in the Government Gazette on 14 July stating that the assignment was made ‘after consultation by the Attorney-General’ with both judges, Mr Lawson said. “However, today in Parliament, under questioning in the House of Assembly from Opposition frontbencher, Vickie Chapman, the Attorney-General admitted that he did not consult as required. “The government attempted to overcome the difficulty by issuing another proclamation on July 21 which acknowledged that the earlier proclamation ‘may have been ineffectual’.” Mr Lawson said. In Parliament, Mr Lawson said the requirement to consult with the two judges “is an important provision because the judges … may have some view about the capacity, the impartiality, the incompetence and the integrity of persons assigned to the Court”. “The State’s first law officer either doesn’t know what the law is or he is not sufficiently diligent to obey it. Media release here