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Campbell Newman says Tim Carmody appointment is his biggest regret
published on : 09-28-2015
Category : Appointments
The decision former Queensland premier Campbell Newman regrets “more than any other” in his 13-year political career was his appointment of controversial chief justice Tim Carmody to the supreme court. The revelation comes in the authorised biography Can Do: Campbell Newman and the Challenge of Reform, due for release in October. The book, by journalist and former parliamentarian Gavin King, says Newman’s treasurer, Tim Nicholls, and chief of staff, Ben Myers, both advised Newman against Carmody’s elevation. Carmody was awarded the position by Newman in June 2014. He had not previously sat on the supreme court and had served only nine months as a chief magistrate. Long-serving judges were overlooked for the position. His appointment drew criticism from the legal profession. The head of Queensland’s court of appeal, Margaret McMurdo, later refused to work with him in any court. Others criticised the decision as being a “captain’s pick”, since Carmody was close to Newman and the LNP government. It became one of the most contentious appointments in modern legal history, and Carmody ultimately stood down barely 12 months into the job. Newman was ejected from office after just one term, and the Carmody appointment was seen as contributing to the government’s demise. But while Newman says the decision to appoint Carmody was a bad one politically, he told the Sunday Mail in an exclusive interview published on Sunday that he still believed Carmody was “the right guy’’ for the job. “It was about reform,” Newman said. “The courts and the legal system need to be reformed.”
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