This past month has been full of changes, including the
leadership spill – which I’m sure every Australian followed on twitter! Along
with the appointment of a new Prime Minister Australia appears to have received
an attitude change. Two surprising appointments of a female minister and an
indigenous minister has arisen from the appointment of Prime Minister Turnbull.
Additionally Tony McAvoy must be congratulated as he is appointed to the Queen’s
Counsel.
It is with great pride as a young Australian lawyer that I
can write about Wiri man Tony McAvoy. He was appointed as a silk on Thursday as the
first indigenous member of the Queen’s Counsel. This
appointment is a position of great honour and responsibility. His role in
inspiring young lawyers (especially indigenous
lawyers) will be insurmountable.
The term ‘silk’ is legal jargon that refers to a silk gown
worn by the members of the Queen’s Counsel. It is a great honor to be elected
to the Queen’s Counsel because these individuals are selected purely on their
level of merit rather than their years of experience. Although briefly
Australia removed the use of the phrase ‘Queen’s Counsel’ and instead QC’s were
called ‘Senior Counsel’ it was restored
in March 2014 to Queen’s Counsel.
During an interview with Lawyers Weekly Mr McAvoy explained that he had an innocent
start to the profession as it arose from a holiday job in the Aboriginal Legal
Service. He went from strength to strength in the legal field and were recommended by Doyles Guide of Leading Native
Title Barristers Australia, 2015.
Still Mr McAvoy remains grounded as he speaks of his win for
the Quandamooka People of North Stradbroke
Island. This claim was a sixteen-year
long legal fight for the indigenous people to have their ongoing connection
with the land and traditions acknowledged. The claim extended over 43 square kilometres,
which is a significant acknowledgement of the traditional custodianship of
their land.
Additionally Malcolm Turnbull announced Ken Wyatt as a front
bencher in Australia’s federal parliament. Frontbencher is the term used to describe
where ministers and shadow ministers sit in government. It is a significant
role that involves being allocated a major area of responsibility.
Mr Wyatt’s responsibility will be as an assistant healthminister. Mr Wyatt is a man with Nyoongar, Yamatji and Wongi heritage who can draw on experience
to support the health needs of indigenous Australians. Health is a very
prominent portfolio, and Mr Wyatt’s previous
experience makes him an apt choice for the pressured portfolio of health.
Mr McAvoy and Mr Wyatt are taking groundbreaking steps for Australians, as no other indigenous
Australian has yet reached the recognition that they have achieved this week. Hopefully, there will be more indigenous Australians
to follow and many more young indigenous Australians inspired.
Female leadership has also been
uplifted in the appointment of a woman
defence minister, Marise Payne. Marise Payne is a Senator for New South Wales. The
Sydney Morning Herald reported that Mrs Payne had been called the best choice for the job,
and Australia Defence Association Executive Director Neil James commented that
she was an excellent option.
Despite concerns that the defence minister position had too many changes,
Turnbull insisted on hiring Mrs Payne. He believes that she is the best choice for the party. SBS reporters commented
that Turnbull, while making history, was not interested in tokenistic
appointments but remained focused on building a team of hard working ministers.
The historic appointment of these three people to positions
of responsibility is hopefully a sign that Australia’s conservatism is becoming
a practice of the past. Just as leading Australian Human Rights Barrister
Geoffrey Robertson promotes in his essay collection Dreaming Too Loud,
Australia’s time for acknowledging indigenous rights is well overdue. To bring
new leadership into our government is a move that should be celebrated. While
it is only one indigenous minister and
one female minister appointed to these prominent roles it is still a step in
the direction of true racial and gender equality.
Good luck to all of you students reading my blog who are beginning
your exams. I will soon be posting a blog post about designing ‘vision study
board.’ These boards are fun DIYs that help you keep up the productivity
through the long weeks of exam preparation. These DIYs can be altered to match
any field of work including lawyers with a creative flair, looking to organise
the coming weeks.
Lots of love,
The Underage Lawyer
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