A JUDGE OF CHARACTER??

Controversial High Court judge Michael Kirby has been dubbed a ‘judicial activist’ and his comments from the revered bench were described as ‘frightening’ after his latest outburst in Canberra yesterday.

I could have thought of some other words: insensitive, gauche, deluded, misguided, reckless, and cruel.

Not the sort of words you would usually use to describe a judge sitting on the bench of the highest, most revered, court in this land.

He claims that Americans have become ‘obsessed’  with September 11, 2001. And he played down the significance of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center Towers and the Pentagon – attacks which killed nearly 3000 innocent people including ten Australians.

He said that more people died each day from AIDS around the world than died on September 11. Yes. And more people died of cancer and malnutrition and other illnesses.

But to point out that ‘the Americans, with all respect, have become obsessed with September 11’ sounds like anti-American propaganda that could give solace to murderers like Osama Bin Laden and his bombers.

Why shouldn’t a country be obsessed when its vulnerability to wanton slaughter is brought home by suicide pilots at the controls of flying bombs of fuel and loaded with innocent passengers of all nations and all creeds smash bring down two giant towers in Manhattan?

Mr. Justice Kirby also said: ‘That is not an event that occurred in this country’. True. And Bali didn’t happen in this country either sunshine but 99 Australians died there. Are we obsessed with Bali Mr. Kirby? And is that so wrong?

We talk about judges being in ivory towers and this is more than a classic case. He has insulted the memory of people who died on September 11. He has insulted the heroism of passengers who tried to stop the carnage.

Somebody described Judge Kirby as being out of touch in the rarefied air of Canberra and chauffeured limos. I would say Michael Kirby is so far up himself he would not know if a tram was up him until the conductor rang the bell.

The only good news to come out of this is that by, Kirby, must resign next year as he reaches the age of seventy in March 2009. He should go sooner.

Wednesday, February 21, 2007

©Copyright Derryn Hinch 2007