Supreme Court Judges Luncheon

The Honourable Chief Justice Helen Bowskill and Honourable Justices of the Supreme Court of Queensland, good afternoon.

I begin by acknowledging the Traditional Owners of the lands around Brisbane, the Turrbal and Jagera people, and pay my respects to Elders past, present and emerging.

I was delighted to receive the invitation from The Chief Justice to join you for this month’s Supreme Court Judges’ luncheon.

Standing here today in this splendid Conference Room, I am struck by just how different our modern Supreme Court is from that which greeted our colony’s very first Chief Justice, Sir James Cockle.

When he arrived in February 1863, there was only one other judge, the notoriously outspoken and contentious Alfred Lutwyche who had gone so far as to petition the Queen to disallow an Act which provided for a second judge in Queensland but did not name him Chief Justice.

It was an extraordinary time, but Cockle responded calmly and reasonably to Lutwyche’s behaviour, demonstrating the dignity and politeness that he was to become famed for during his 15 years as Chief Justice – 15 years during which he walked almost five kilometres to and from work each day and never missed a day’s duty!

This unperturbable, scrupulously impartial man set a high standard for what were to become traditions of the court in Queensland, and although it would be 130 years before Margaret White became Queensland’s first female Supreme Court judge, and 150 years before Lincoln Crowley became not just Queensland’s but Australia’s first Indigenous Supreme Court judge, I feel confident that Cockle would have welcomed the diversity that this court now represents.

I say that because diversity means not only a range of genders and ethnicities; it brings intellectual rigour by encouraging different judicial philosophies, and it promotes tolerance by embracing different personal and professional experience.

Sir James’s abiding personal interest was mathematics (no wonder his judgements were famous for their logic and clarity!) and while I don’t know if any of you share his fascination with differential equations, I do know that the rich experience each of you brings to the court is invaluable.

Twenty years ago, at a dinner for the Supreme Court judges of New South Wales, Justice Michael Kirby summed up the value of diversity when he said – “A court is a wonderful institution – bigger by far than the judges, masters and other officers who make it up.”

He was right.

Thank you, on behalf of all Queenslanders, for your outstanding service to the public and your unwavering commitment to upholding justice in our State.