PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE

Overdue examination of a national shame

Tens of thousands of First Nations and other Australians gathered last week at dozens of vigils held around the nation to mourn the death of 15-year-old Noongar boy Cassius Turvey.

The outpouring of grief for Cassius is a tragic reminder that too many First Nations Australians have died as the result of violence.

That’s why the Senate Inquiry into missing and murdered First Nations women and children is so important.

We hope the Inquiry will acknowledge the ongoing trauma for families and communities and make recommendations in respect of supporting their healing process.

Other countries are more advanced on this issue than Australia. The Canadian National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls published its report in June 2019. The United States Government has established a Missing and Murdered Unit in the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

The Inquiry should consider recommending the creation of similar dedicated units at state and territory level to investigate cases and to gather data needed to properly understand the issue.

The Law Society hopes the inquiry will take into account the collective impact of colonisation on First Nations communities, dispossession from traditional lands and the removal of First Nations children and young people from their families and communities.

We encourage Senators hearing the Inquiry to develop recommendations that all levels of Government in Australia will take seriously and take concrete steps to tackle this problem.

Lessons from the United States

We have so much in common with the United States, but the increasing challenges to democracy and the rule of law on the other side of the Pacific are troubling developments.

Democracy in the United States will again be under the microscope tomorrow (and Wednesday our time) with the mid-term elections. Public confidence in the rule of law in the US is under pressure with a polarised and ideological debate taking place about the independence and ongoing legitimacy of the Supreme Court (SCOTUS).

Critics point to recent decisions allowing states to abolish abortion rights in place since Roe v Wade and preventing state and local administrations from keeping guns off the streets.

I raise these issues because next Monday, Law Society members will have a rare opportunity to hear an eminent SCOTUS expert discuss the challenges the current court faces.

The Royal Society of New South Wales is joining with the Law Society to present a lecture by Yale University lecturer Linda Greenhouse, who covered SCOTUS for the New York Times over three decades. Her most recent book is Justice on the Brink – A requiem for the Supreme Court.  

Ms Greenhouse, who is also the President of the American Philosophical Society, will examine ‘how the court came to diverge so sharply from the will of the people’, exploring the consequences for the Supreme Court as an institution and for American democracy.

I encourage you to register for this fascinating and topical webcast that’s free for members.

Joanne van der Plaat, President, Law Society of NSW