Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I say that having been a solicitor of the Supreme Court myself. And I take that interjection. With 56,000 lawyers—that is obviously the size of a big town in your electorate, Deputy Speaker Scott—there is more than one lawyer for every 350 people in Australia. That is a lot of lawyers; that is a lot of wigs. Just to add to that, there are now more than 27,000 law students enrolled at 28 different universities throughout Australia. I am not taking anything away from law students, having been a law student myself, and I would not want to upset the member for Braddon who sits alongside me, because his son Julian Sidebottom is doing law at the University of Tasmania law school. I am not casting any aspersions on any of these students or their motivations or aspirations. As I said, I was once one of them and my wife, Lea Scoines, is currently a law student—one of the 27,000. Nevertheless, when you add the 27,000 and the 56,000 lawyers already in the ranks, that will swell the legal ranks to more than 80,000 people, which is a pretty decent sized electorate, I guess. It is therefore appropriate that Commonwealth laws respond to and adapt to these significant changes in the legal profession—from 3,000 up to the now 80,000 lawyers. Obviously there is a lot more cause for lawyers to do work.

One of the great tenets of our Westminster system of government is the rule of law. It is equally as important as our parliament, I would suggest, in terms of protecting our democratic freedoms. The rule of law ensures that everyone, regardless of their rank or office, is subject to the same legal and judicial processes. It does not matter if they are a battler from Rocklea in my electorate or a millionaire from Bronte. It does not matter what their profession is or where they come from in life; they are all treated the same in the eyes of the law. That is why the statue of justice is blind. Everyone is treated the same.

The rule of law is very important. We are not Zimbabwe. Nobody gets to suspend the operation of our institutions because they are worried about how it might affect them. We are all subject to the same conditions. No-one is above the law and everyone must be treated fairly before the law. This strong legal principle has ensured good government in Australia for more than 100 years. The reality is, however, that Australia has changed significantly. Where there are duplications and inefficiencies in the legal systems, these costs are always passed on to the consumers—to the lawyers’ clients, normally. So it is important that we make the Australian legal system as simple as possible and as efficient and fast as possible. There is an old saying that when justice is delayed justice is denied. It is a maxim, however, with weighty resonance. If we look at some of the horrible examples over the years—such as David Hicks, who spent all of that time languishing in a prison—it throws out the notion of habeas corpus, which the Magna Carta advanced all those years ago.

The Evidence Amendment Bill before the House amends the Evidence Act 1995 to ensure that some states mirror these evidence laws. I say as a Queenslander that it is unfortunate that Queensland is not a part of this, but this is still an important first step. In making these amendments, this bill implements the recommendations of the Uniform evidence law report. Historically, state governments have retained much autonomy when it comes to legislative powers and laws. In horse and buggy times, when the Federation was crafted, that was totally appropriate. But, as I have indicated, things have changed and times have changed significantly. These powers are still guaranteed in the Australian Constitution, although federalism, as thought of by the founding fathers, has morphed significantly since the Constitution was drafted. Constitutional amendments, High Court decisions, changing interpretations of the Constitution and an increasing overlap of public policy areas at both levels of government have seen a shift in some elements of legal power away from the states.

A modern Australia is also much more interconnected through efficient travel and digital communications. Most modern companies do not see state borders. Increasingly, the residents of our states travel easily between the states. Mr Deputy Speaker, I think the town of Mungindi is in your electorate. I have played football against Mungindi, and the people of Mungindi did not see the river as being part of the border—except perhaps on state of origin night! People on the Gold Coast too travel easily back and forth between the states—the only inconvenience being when daylight saving occurs.

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