Thursday 13th February 1997
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Issues - The banking system under the spotlight. We wrote about the stamp collecting ex-West Australian Labor Premier, Brian Burke, and his time now in front of the courts on charges of stealing.
We also wrote back in 1995 about Dr Carmen "lying" Lawrence, who was also a Labor Premier in that state but is now a Shadow Minister in the Opposition front bench in Federal Parliament, even after her controversial role in the Penny Easton affair.
Guess what - she still hasn't paid her Au$560,000 lawyers bill - and guess who the lawyers are now suing to pick up the tab.... yes, you heard right - the Australian tax payer - a la the Government!
Her solicitors Dunhill Madden Butler which acted for Dr Lawrence in the 1995 Marks royal commission said yesterday that they could not recover their outstanding legal bills personally from the minister and have now initiated Federal Court proceedings against the Federal Government for unpaid costs associated with her failed court challenge.
Firm managing partner, John Churchill said that the action was being taken as a last resort, "Litigation means both sides are going to be spending money which neither side should have to spend and if we win the case there will be an order that the Commonwealth pay our fees on top of what it owes us."
At a time when criminals are being freed because the legal aid system does not have the funds to represent them Attorney-General Darryl Williams QC said that the givernment had already paid Au$319,000 and was set to pay another Au$50,000 towards Dr Lawrence's legal costs before the commission, but it would not pay the costs associated with her failed injunction and constitutional challenge.
These costs were to have been paid by the Carmen Lawrence Defence Fund which was set up by the Australian Labor Party (ALP) to seek public donations the Attorney-General said.
"The Australian public and the donors to the fund are entitled to ask why the fund has not been applied in payment of those costs as this was the stated reason for the funding being set up," Williams said.
ALP national secretary Gary Gray said the Carmen Lawrence Defence Fund paid Au$94,500 to the firm 13 months ago and hoped to pay more to cover the Au$133,000 owed to the West Australian government.
"The upshot of it is the legal expenses were undertaken by the Commonwealth and should be paid for by the Commonwealth," he said.
Churchill, the partner in the legal firm suing the government for the unpaid fees, said that the case had been set down for mention in Sydney on March 18th.
He said that Dr Lawrence had not paid any money towards the fees and the firm had no legal claim against her.
"It's like anybody else who gets legal aid: you have no right against the individual; our contract was with the Federal Government," Churchill said.
"There's no dispute about the reasonableness or the quantum of our fees it's all about whether or not the Commonwealth will pay us.
"We'd like to stay out of the politics; we have a client who we have an agreement with and our fees should be paid. It's a straight contractual matter."
Mr Churchill said that legal opinion from leading QC and former Liberal attorney-general Bob Ellicott supported the firm's actions.
So there you have the Australian legal system summed up in a nutshell. If you a politician with clout you can challenge the constitution in court, lose and top of that found to be lying.... but still have your six figure legal bills paid for by the Australian tax payer through legal aid; but if you are Mr Joe Citizen there are no funds in the kitty to cover your defence for legal costs amounting to a couple of hundred dollars. What do you think of this case?
"I think it is important... that people who are interested in having a negotiated settlement must realise that all of those who have a stake in the matter must be prepared to make some compromises," he told Parliament yesterday.
"It is not going to be in the national interest for there to be ongoing and lingering uncertainty and doubt."
Howard repeated his earlier promise that the Government had not ruled out any response except doing nothing or overturning the original Mabo decision.
Earlier this week Aussie Home Loans announced that it would now lend small businesses money against their homes at 2.55% below the rates currently charged by the big banks to this sector.
And last night we heard about the launch of a book which shows the man in the street how to cut thousands of dollars from their home loan in a scheme which turns your home loan into a massive savings account from which you can draw and deposit funds. There is a bit of software which is attached to the book which helps you budget for the scheme. I will be endeavouring to get permission from the publishers to carry a downloadable copy of the sofware - available from the Australian News of the Day.
Watch this space....
Heckel and Jeckel (the corellas) are having a ball at the feed tray outside the global office.
Have a great day.
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