Search
This area does not yet contain any content.
Justinian News

Sofronoff stripped bare ... Deceit ... Betrayal ... Drumgold hung out to dry as a result of Sofronoff-Albrechtsen information "tryst" ... Latest derailment of conspiracies about the prosecution of manosphere darling, Bruce Lehrmann ... Derangement syndrome ... Sofronoff's "serious corruption" ... Devastation among devoted Banana Benders ... Read more >>

Politics Media Law Society


Bag lady ... Don't call the results until the fat lady sings … Senator's criminal record hidden from view … Inspiration from our B-grade business leaders … Forget the sexual harassment, Dicey Heydon is coming out of the deep freeze ... Read on >> 

Free Newsletter
Justinian Columnists

Capital crimes ... Dangerous words likely to be scrubbed from the Trump era lexicon ... Musk and his techie vandals ... The shredder going full blast at the FBI ... Stolen national security documents sent back to Mar-a-Lago ... Cabinet clown show ... White supremacy unleashed ... Consumer protection prosecutions dropped ... Lawyers and law firms threatened ... Roger Fitch from Washington ... Read more >> 

Blow the whistle

 

News snips ...


NSWDCJ Robert Newlinds, again ... Judgment has now been amended to remove the words "he was a good-looking young man" in [1] and to remove "She was (and remains) an attractive young lady" from [2]". Well done Robert ... Fazldeen v State of New South Wales >>

Justinian's Bloggers

London Calling ... Law n Order in Blighty ... King invites the King for State visit ... Grovels aplenty ... Magistrate over does the "send him down" ... Musos strike an angry chord about AI encroachment ... Law shops protect the billable hour ... Floyd Alexander-Hunt files ... Read more >> 

"True to form, the ACT corruption watchdog has put itself at the centre of perceptions of bias with a finding against eminent former Queensland judge Walter Sofronoff KC that serves only to debase the definition of serious corrupt conduct."

The Australian with its unique perspective on "bias" ... March 22, 2025 ... Read more flatulence ... 


Justinian Featurettes

Judgment for sale ... Melbourne University Publishing's decision to produce Justice Lee's Lehrmann judgment as a commercial product is not without its problems ... The omnishambles continues ... Melbourne lawyer Nilay B. Patel explains ... Read more >> 


Justinian's archive

Defamation and other misadventures ... So sexy, said the actress of the Chief Justice ... Daphnis dunks women in hot water ... Another (male) judge frocks-up ... Inside Madge's mouth ... Stephen Archer defamed ... David Levine strangles more English ... Justice Dean Mildren "the idiot" ... From Justinian's archive, April 22, 2004 ... Read more >> 


 

 

« Jay Williams | Main | Dispatches from the front line »
Thursday
Mar202014

Don Weatherburn

Don Weatherburn is the hard facts man of the NSW criminal justice system ... He reminds the politicians that statistics don't lie ... A man who has blended a love of crime with a love of statistics ... He's on Justinian's couch, which is as good a reason as any to mention his new book, Arresting Incarceration 

Don Weatherburn, looking for monstera deliciosa

DON Weatherburn is the director of the legendary NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research - and has been for the last 26 years. 

Not only has he survived in the hurly-burly of the NSW public service, he's flourished and built BOCSAR into a revered institution. 

Weatherburn and his team keep on producting the data and the politicians keep on moulding it into exciting shapes. 

Weatherburn has recently produced a book, Arresting Incarceration, addressing one of our pressing sores - the alarming rate of imprisonment for Indigenous Australians. 

He examines previously unpublished data and dares to contradict some conventional wisdoms - including the parts played by racial bias and Indigenous empowerment. 

Here's the man himself, on the couch, stretched out for inspection ...

Describe yourself in three words.

Curious, good-humoured, blunt. 

What are you currently reading?

'Spirit House' by Mark Dapin. 

What's your favourite film?

Ingmar Bergman's 'The Seventh Seal'. 

What is your favourite piece of music?

Beethoven's Fifth Piano Concerto. 

Who has been the most influential person in your life ... and why? 

My mother - because she knew how to laugh at herself.

What is in your refrigerator?

Lots, because my wife has been away for a week and I wanted to prove I could keep the kids alive. 

What is your favourite website?

The Bureau of Meteorology website.

If you were on death row, what would be your request for your last meal?

Garlic prawns, whiting fillets cooked in tempura batter, a bottle of Howard Park sauvignon blanc and a large plate of nembutal. 

What words or phrases do you overuse?

Does a wild duck fly?

Was there an important opportunity that you didn't take ... and if so what was it?

I was once asked by crooked security consultant how much he'd have to pay me to access to our crime stats. I said 'nothing, they're on our website'. 

You're a psychologist by training. How did that lead to crime stats and research?

By accident. I like statistics, I like crime and I found a job that let's me apply the first to the second. 

In a nutshell, what's your prescription for the unacceptably high rates of Aboriginal incarceration?

Less parental drug and alcohol abuse, better parenting, improved school performance, more jobs. 

What is the most unexpected or disturbing finding of the Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research?

How few programs reduce the rate of re-offending. 

What's your most glamorous feature?

My huge brawny torso.

If you were a foodstuff, what would you be? 

Monstera deliciosa.

What human quality do you most distrust?

Altruism.

What would you change about Australia?

The standard of political debate in State and Federal Parliament.

Whom or what do you consider overrated?

Management consultants.

What would your epitaph say? 

Illegitimi non carborundum. 

What comes into your mind when you shut your eyes and think of the word "law"?

Criminal opportunity. 

Reader Comments

There are no comments for this journal entry. To create a new comment, use the form below.
Editor Permission Required
You must have editing permission for this entry in order to post comments.