MARK DREYFUS QC MP
SHADOW ATTORNEY-GENERAL
SHADOW MINISTER FOR NATIONAL SECURITY
MEMBER FOR ISAACS
RESTORING INTEGRITY TO JUDICIAL AND AAT APPOINTMENTS
A Federal Labor government will restore the rigorous, transparent and accountable judicial appointments process Labor adopted when last in government, and apply a similar process to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) for the first time.
Under the policy, first introduced by former Attorney-General Robert McClelland, vacancies will be advertised publicly, and an independent panel will form a shortlist of potential appointees for consideration by the Attorney-General. While judicial appointments ultimately remain the prerogative of the Attorney-General and Cabinet, should an appointment be made outside of the shortlist, Parliament must be notified with a short explanation why.
Labor will commit to a similar process for appointments to the AAT, which has been used by the coalition government to gift jobs that pay nearly $400,000 a year to former Liberal candidates, donors, staffers, and former MPs.
The extraordinarily long list of Liberal-linked appointments include a lawyer who acted for the former Attorney-General George Brandis's son, George Brandis's former Chief of Staff, Scott Morrison's former Chief of Staff, former Liberal Senator Helen Kroger, former member for Bass Andrew Nikolic, and many more.
When compiling a shortlist for appointments, the independent panel will be instructed to consider the need for the federal judiciary and AAT to better reflect Australian society. This will not be binding or a quota system.
Under the current government, gender balance in appointments to the federal judiciary, in particular, has been woeful. According to Parliamentary Library research, in the period from the coalitions election in 2013 to 16 January this year, only 30 per cent of appointments to the High Court and Federal Courts have been women. When Labor was in government between 2007 and 2013, 42 per cent of appointments to the federal judiciary were women and that number was increasing. In Labor's last year of government, women made up 58 per cent of judicial appointments.
This is more than just symbolism greater diversity of gender and ethnic background can only benefit our justice system.
Appointments to the judiciary are one of the weightiest responsibilities of any Attorney-General, and indeed any government. Labor's system for appointments to the federal judiciary, and now the AAT, will be robust, accountable and transparent, and help to build trust in both institutions.
FRIDAY, 1 FEBRUARY 2019
