10 Minutes with…QLRC Chair Fleur Kingham

Thank you for agreeing to speak to Hearsay.

My pleasure, Richard.

You have read a preface to my interview with you which details your career achievements. Whether by reference to those listed, or otherwise, which of your life experiences best assists you in the discharge of your role as Chair of the Queensland Law Reform Commission?

Consultation is at the heart of the Commission’s work. The better the engagement with affected communities, the more informed our work. So, building relationships and encouraging a strong and open exchange of views is my central focus. I would say my roles at QCAT and the Land Court helped me to develop some strategic leadership and communication skills that are already coming in handy.

I remember well your lengthy service in the Students’ Union and in the University Senate. Was that an interesting, or perhaps taxing, time of your early career, and why?

Although I enjoyed a street march or occupation of the Vice-Chancellor’s office as much as the next student leader, my time in student activism was less about political protest and more about prosaic student concerns, like financial support for students and library opening hours. The then Vice Chancellor was an outsider and a reformer. This presented an opportunity for students. We secured student representation at all levels of the University. We built alliances. We leveraged our limited influence to advance students’ rights. I also learned that a life in politics was not for me. I am grateful I found out early that I was best suited to pursue a career in the law.

Your legal practice was largely focused on land and resources jurisprudence. Did you fall into that, or did it present certain attractions to you as a practitioner?

I was a city kid, who fell in love with the country. I spent nearly all my school holidays as a teenager with school friends in south-west Qld. I loved being on the land, so resources and environmental law was a natural fit. I was also attracted to the dynamism of international environmental law in the early 1990s. Specialising in an emerging field of law was stimulating and presented different opportunities to a traditional path in commercial or criminal law. I am lucky that I worked in different jurisdictions as a judge and delighted that I circled back to land and resources law at the end.

Fleur, since you and I were admitted close to 40 years ago – sorry for that – practice in Queensland has seen a significant amplification of the number of women practitioners, in the case of solicitors with over 50% solicitor practitioners being women and about 30% of those at the bar. Aside from obvious issues of equality, do you consider that this has changed the manner of daily legal practice?

I have no doubt it has. I recall being on circuit in Maryborough and realising that all the officers of the Court were female – judge, associate, bailiff, prosecutor, defence counsel, and instructing solicitors. The male defendant may not have experienced the same pleasure as I did in that composition. I believe women have brought a different tone to the bench – more respectful, less ego-driven. That is a generalisation, of course. There has also been a welcome shift in how the law is understood, discussed, applied, and reformed. It is much more responsive to the experiences of women and families. There is so much more work to do, but women are at the core of the conversation now. I am encouraged by the recent focus on diversity from other perspectives – ethnic, religious, and socio-economic. If you believe, as I do, that the rule of law is a societal good, the more inclusive the profession is, the better.

In recent decades there has been a proliferation of enactments across a raft of spheres of jurisprudence. Do you consider that the law in Queensland, and Australia, is going the way of the European Community, such that statute law – rather than the common law – dominates the rule of law, not just in practice but in the community, and if so are there shortcomings in that?

I think that trend is inexorable. And there are some shortcomings. The increasing prescription in legislation can leave gaps that are hard to fill through judicial reasoning. Injustices occur at the margins of regulation. I favour legislation that establishes broad principles and objects and mechanisms to advance them, while retaining discretion for both administrative and judicial decision-makers. This preserves what I see as the strengths of the common law: the recourse to fundamental legal principles to reason to a just outcome, and the ability to develop the law as circumstances demand.

How is the Law Reform Commission best placed to assist Queensland Government in its legislative role?

We value our strong relationship with the professional associations, which generously share their members’ collective experience. Likewise, we encourage any lawyer to engage as an individual. I hope that young practitioners, especially, will take up the invitation. They may have limited experience in practice, but their scholarship is recent. Further, new entrants to the profession are more likely to question why the law works as it does. At the heart of every review is at least one consultation paper, with an opportunity to make formal submissions. That is an obvious path. However, we are more active, now, in seeking input before we formulate consultation proposals, and in formulating recommendations in response to the submissions. Any person can register for newsletters and links to publications for any review. And you can contact us at any time with ideas or information relevant to a review.

Are there any lighter moments for legal practitioners in modern practice, or do we have to look for those in our personal lives?

There is a lot of storytelling in the law, some more true than others. The latter may offer the lightest moments.

At the end of the day, the practice of law is a job, not a passion. It is unlikely to nourish the soul, however satisfying and stimulating the work might be. I look for the human dimension. Get to know the people you are working with, and against. Lawyers are an intelligent lot, often funny and creative, with many varied and interesting pursuits outside their work. You will find some light there.

Do we lawyers deserve to be the butt of the jokes, and occasional derision, accorded us by the general public, and occasionally media?

Yes and no. A thick skin is a useful legal accoutrement. Whether we deserve it or not, readers of literature and history know this is not new and will endure. Sometimes I ask a person mouthing off about lawyers whether they have a lawyer. If they do, I ask them if their lawyer is a rapacious money-grabbing pretentious dissembler. Usually, they will say their lawyer is different to most. There must be a lot of ‘different’ lawyers out there!

Is there anything lawyers – including judges – can do to improve the profession’s image and reputation? Or should we just suck it up and get on with practice?

Yes (make the law accessible) and yes (get on with it).

What are your interests outside the law, and how do you make time for them?

I lack the focus necessary to become wholly immersed in any of my interests. I am easily distracted by the many things I want to, and sometimes, do – reading, gardening, cycling, movies, travel, cooking, playing piano, learning another language, and finishing the ‘renovation projects’ that linger in my house. What I have always found time for, and which gives me the greatest joy, is being with family. Ok, and my beagles.

If, with hindsight, you had been able to pursue another calling or vocation, what would it have been, and would you have been any good at it?

Helicopter pilot. I would have been brilliant. Seriously!

Do you think it is possible that the four Queensland NRL teams – the Broncos, the Dolphins, the Titans and the Cowboys – could figure in the final 8 this year?

I am tempted to defer to my spouse. But, with the confidence of the ignorant, I say YES, because I am a QUEENSLANDER ?

If you could give an aspiring barrister or solicitor one tip for a rewarding and fulfilling legal career, what would it be?

Don’t look too far ahead. Make the most of every opportunity. If it isn’t working for you, don’t be afraid to make a change. And, yes, I know that was more than one piece of advice.

Thanks for your time in speaking with Hearsay.

No, thank you. As an opportunist, let me close with a thank you to the barristers who appeared before me. I appreciated your respect and professionalism, which I did not take for granted. I hope you felt able to give your best for your client.