Page 3314 - Week 12 - Tuesday, 18 September 1990
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go - a barrister, a lawyer, then a lawyer versed in the matter of hotels which we were in, and then an accountant and then another lawyer that understood that. I thought, Mr Speaker, as we walked into the court to Justice Powell and the opposition walked in with just as many people, that Cecil B. De Mille would have been proud of us. We had a cast of thousands and we, the little people, were paying for it, of course. I looked around this court and saw the amount of money that was being spent and I thought, "This could be really and honestly the beginnings of a good MGM film for Cecil B. De Mille". We certainly had the cast. I sat there wondering what I was doing there because they did all the talking and lots went on. There were lots of wigs and gowns. I might tell you, Mr Speaker, the whole thing cost my partner and me $55,000 and we won the case. I honestly fear to think what it would have cost us if we had lost the case.
So, the fear, as I say, for simple people who have never had to go to court before is bad enough but for somebody who really does not understand it is quite frightening. I feel that it is absolutely ridiculous to change the system that we have that I think does a very good job. I consider the Administrative Appeals Tribunal, a great reform brought in by Lionel Murphy, a first for the English speaking world. It really is something we should be proud of - a tribunal designed for persons to appear on their own which has been copied in the States. Some people say a person is a fool to be his own lawyer; but, in cases of small claims and courts like this where people really cannot afford to employ a lawyer and know simply how to put their case, they do not feel overawed. They are not overawed by the fact that they have to sit there in front of a judge in wig and gown and all these extra people - as I say, a cast of thousands which one does not really need.
To change this court will only add to the formality and the cost. Is it because magistrates feel that they do not have the standing that judges have? If they feel they are not getting paid enough, then I say, "Let us pay them more. Let us put more magistrates in the courts so that we can get the job done". But it makes me think a little that it is not so much the pay. I think they like the mystique of wearing gowns and that funny little thing they wear that is all made out of string, that is all wrapped around there and hangs round the back.
It reminds me of the time I went to a State parliament in the days when the Speaker of the particular State parliament wore a wig. I took school children there from a very small country town called Tooleybuc. Afterwards, when I took the children for afternoon tea, one of the little boys said to me, "Hey, missus, who is the real swinging fella up on the chair with the wig on?", and I said, "Well, that is the Speaker". He said, "Cripes, does he really get around like that?". I said to him, "Well, that is a hangover from old times. He happens to be a Liberal and Liberals love dressing up". This child could not quite
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