The appointment of Tim Carmody to become the next Chief Justice of Queensland continues to cause the Newman Government and Attorney-General Jarrod Bleijie severe criticism from the both the legal profession and the wider community. Those with long memories may recall evidence to the Fitzgerald Inquiry about the Cabinet overrulling the appointment of Mr Justice Douglas as Chief Justice in 1972 after it was revealed by Don Lane, Cabinet minister at the time (who was subsequently jailed) that Douglas had been noted as having voted Labor in a postal vote.
The cartoon by Alan Moir is taken from ‘Smile, It’s Joh’s Place’ 1982. It is reproduced by kind permission of Mr Moir.
On 17 June the Courier-Mail published a report of leaked instructions from the Attorney-General to his Cabinet colleagues on how to repond. Mr Bleijie’s ‘suggested responses’ instruct MPs to declare he is ‘doing an excellent job making sure we have the best and fairest justice system in the country’. If MPs are asked about Judge Carmody’s appointment, they were told to say: ‘Tim Carmody will make an excellent chief justice. It’s now time for everyone to get on with their jobs.’