Greg Barns
Barrister and writer
Greg Barns is an Australian barrister, political commentator and WikiLeaks Party national campaign director. He is the author of several books, including “What’s wrong with the Liberal Party”.
According to BeyondBlue, lawyers are more prone depression than any other profession. As someone who practises law, has worked in politics, and takes daily medication to deal with depression, this comes as no surprise to me.
The Sydney Sun-Herald’s page one ‘exclusive’ yesterday on an alleged Islamic cell in Goulbourn Jail has all the hallmarks of a classic Sunday newspaper beat-up.
At present, despite Mr Howard’s words at his media conference yesterday, the Commonwealth has no power to make decisions about water allocations – it is a matter for state governments.
If last week’s nauseating spectacle of John Howard and Kevin Rudd falling over themselves to support broadcaster Alan Jones after he was severely censured by the broadcasting tribunal – ACMA – wasn’t enough, can you imagine how the Prime Minister and his 'Sir Echo', Mr Rudd will react if Mr Jones is jailed later this week for committing serious contempt of court in July 2005?
The Gunns litigation has never been about the abolition of the right to protest, or the right to freedom of speech ... rather this case is about the balancing of various rights.
Under what statute or pursuant to which line of case law does the Australian government say it can enforce the gag order on Mr Hicks?
In contrast to other cases, the Howard government did whatever it took to ensure that the American quasi-legal process that was trying Mr Hicks delivered the right political outcome.
There has been an unseemly haste to rush to judgment about former New South Wales Aboriginal Affairs Minister, Milton Orkopoulos. Mr Orkopoulos has been charged with serious offences. But the case against him is untested in any court, and he is entitled, as is every person in this country, to the presumption of innocence.
Peter Faris’s recounting of his experience as a defence barrister in a rape trial some 30 years ago should not be read as being an accurate account of the way in which complainants are treated by defence lawyers today.
The moment someone gets the right to put those letters after their name, they can charge double or more the fees they charged clients when they were mere junior barristers.
