Swearing-in of the Hon Justice Alan Wilson

May it please the Court.

As is demonstrated by the number standing behind me the Bar wholeheartedly welcomes this appointment and I take great pleasure in extending congratulations and best wishes to your Honour on your transformation to a Justice of the Supreme Court of Queensland.

But it’s not only the Bar who come today but solicitors, and perhaps most importantly, many of your former colleagues from the District Court.  This is clearly a popular appointment.

As a barrister your Honour won a reputation as a tenaciously thorough, intelligent and knowledgeable advocate who could always be counted on to act fairly and courteously.  More than most though you seemed to bring a sense of humour to bear upon the briefs and your dealings with judges and others engaged in the litigation process.  The result of this was that while your opponents always felt as though they had been challenged by a worthy adversary, they always felt equally as though the process had been negotiated by the pair of you in the way things ideally should be done.

Closely related to these qualities is your Honour’s reputation as a very civilised or cultivated gentleman.  In the main it seems to me that this is attributable to your self-professed devotion to the nearly lost art of poetry.  An acolyte of Gerard Manly Hopkins and a self-confessed poet yourself, this is an important part of your Honour’s background, your make up.  The truth, of course, is that your Honour is a truly terrible poet, having produced nothing but atrocious doggerel for many decades now.  The last authoritative review that I’m aware of, your Honour, concluded that the poem entitled “Rabbits” marked the high water mark of your Honour’s oeuvre.

It may be thought that all of these qualities combined to make your Honour an extremely effective and sought after mediator because in the last days of your practice with us at the Bar that is certainly what you were.

On the Bench of the District Court your Honour demonstrated your adaptability by quickly mastering the previously unfamiliar jurisdiction of the Planning and Environment Court mentioned by the Chief Justice.  In this important field which decides disputes concerning very large investments and, more importantly, which have the potential to have a lasting effect on the public interest, your Honour won the admiration of all of those who specialised there.  All of them are sad to lose you.

But your Honour is not just joining the ranks of the Supreme Court.  It is vital to all of us that the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal not only succeeds but that it gets off to a healthy and indeed a flying start.  As the inaugural President of the Tribunal which opens its doors for business in just 34 days’ time, I understand, your Honour faces a daunting task.  The Act requires QCAT to operate in a way that promotes collegiality and maintains a cohesive organisational structure.  The rules have been drafted to establish three divisions:  Human Rights; Administrative and Disciplinary, and Civil Disputes, and there are many Tribunals which will be amalgamated to populate these divisions.  So your Honour’s task is not just that of ensuring that the work is performed to a very high standard but really to establish the culture and together with the Deputy President, to lead this new and important enterprise.  But selection for the most demanding tasks is said to be the highest form of compliment, and daunting as the task may be, the Bar wishes to express its unqualified confidence in your Honour’s ability to carry it out.

To return to your role as a judge of this Court may I say that those members of the Bar who specialise in wills or estate-related litigation are already predicting a golden era for themselves as they are presented with the opportunity of arguing their cases before such an expert in that field.

Your Honour and your family, particularly your wife Lindy, are entitled to savour this occasion.  The Bar shares in your enjoyment and in this recognition of this new and most important milestone in your legal career.  We wish you very well in this new role.

Michael Stewart SC

President