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Pinning the tail on the jellyfish ... Auditor General to probe the shifting expenditure on Federal Court legal services ... AFR ... More >>

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"And I want to just thank everybody and in particular, God, I want to just say we love you, God, and we love our great military, protect them. God bless the Middle East. God bless Israel, and God bless America. Thank you very much. Thank you." 

Donald Trump at the White House announcing the bombing of Iran ... June 21, 2025 ... Read more flatulence ... 


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Holding onto Hope ... Gina Rinehart's Bleak House ... Seeking chunks of the huge iron ore pit, Hope Downs ... Tracing the tangled Wright, Hancock, Rinehart litigation ... Allegations of fraud against the family trust ...Manoeuvring ... Tax "advice" ... Shifting vesting date ... Money, the root of unhappiness ... Anthony-James Kanaan reports ... Read more >> 


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The High Court of Queensland ... Where to now for Bookshelves Brandis? ... Banana Benders in charge ... Eleven names scratched by CJ from Sunshine silks list ... Prosecutors dominate NSW Dizzo appointments ... Farewell to Equity Queen ... What life looked like nine years ago ... From Justinian's Archive, December 2, 2016 ... Read more >> 


 

 

« I once met ... Arnold Schwarzenegger | Main | I Once Met ... Paul Keating »
Sunday
Sep262021

I Once Met ... Margaret Thatcher

David Bennett QC had an encounter at the House of Lords ... Former PM Margaret Thatcher on the supremacy of parliament ... Frosty view on Australian constitutional checks and balances   

Thatcher - lonely in the Lords

In 2001 in London while I was solicitor-general of Australia, I met Margaret Thatcher for a few minutes at the House of Lords. 

She asked me about my functions and I explained that my main task was defending challenges to the validity of Commonwealth legislation in the High Court. 

She obviously knew little about common law systems outside the UK because she expressed incredulity at the possibility that a court could hold legislation to be invalid.

David Bennett AC QC

I Once Met ... Bob Hawke
I Once Met ... Lionel Murphy
I Once Met ... Paul Keating 

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