It was a masterstroke.
The appointment of Labor MLA Terry Connolly as Master of the ACT Supreme Court by the Liberal Government would have made Machiavelli proud.
Sure, Connolly is well-qualified for the job, at least in an academic legal sense. Also his term at Attorney-General has made him very familiar with the minutiae of ACT legislation. He’ll need to burn some midnight oil brushing up on the rules of practice and procedure of the Supreme Court and perhaps revisit his Evidence I textbook.
Some lawyers might frown at an appointment of a person who has not had extensive practice in personal-injuries cases, but Connolly is likely to get across the details fairly quickly and bring some intellectual strength to the court as a whole.
But what does it do to the Act Assembly?
Last month, I wrote an article saying that the appointment was on the cards and that as a result various Labor Party heavies (including a federal one) thought something ought to be done to keep Connolly in the Assembly where the party needed him.
The something to be done, of course, was to ease Rosemary Follett out of the leadership in favour of Andrew Whitecross with Connolly as deputy. That move was certainly set in train, according to Labor sources, but was not to be executed until after the federal election for fear of voter backlash federally.
That article was regarded as fanciful by the legal fraternity and mischief by the Labor Party.
But the mischief was in its truth, not its writing. Kate Carnell has been very clever with the appointment and its timing. Look what it does to Labor:
The timing pre-empted any leadership deal.
Labor is left without its best media performer.
Labor is left without anyone with legal qualifications.
Labor will have difficulty filling the health portfolio. If Wayne Berry takes it, Carnell will be delighted. If Whitecross takes it, health is such nightmare portfolio in the Act he will have his time so cut out that leadership moves (in so far as there will be any in the new environment) will be compromised.
Labor will have no right faction representation, just four left and two not aligned. That may result in a policy lurch to the left on some issues which may not be electorally popular.
The Machiavellian upshot for Carnell is that Labor will be less likely to get its act together to present a more attractive alternative at the next election. It will be more likely now that Follett will lead the party to the next election. It is not impossible for a defeated leader to come back next election, but it is perhaps less likely than a victory with a fresh face.
Yesterday’s appointment was similar to, but not quite the same as, Joh Bjelke-Petersen offering two Liberal members ministries if they would join the National Party and give him government in his own right.
It is good politics.
These sorts of deals _ appointments with an ulterior motive _ usually result in bad public administration. In this instance, however, there are dozens of precedents of judicial appointments for former attorneys-general. And in Connolly’s case, you would have to say he did good job as Attorney.
The master’s job, however, is not a plum judicial appointment. It involves assessment of damages (usually in insurance, car and workers’ and crime victims’ compensation cases) and hearing of preliminary procedural skirmishes before a major court case.
However, Connolly could reasonably expect higher office before long. Governments around the country are having trouble filling judicial positions because compared to the fabulous sums earned by barristers, judges’ pay is not very good.
It is likely that the ACT Government will be looking for a fourth Supreme Court judge before long and Connolly might get a promotion within. The judiciary and legal profession have long called for one and the present judges have huge accumulations of leave which must be taken before long. And there is a fair backlog of cases.
Of course, while Connolly was Attorney-General he resisted the temptation to create a fourth position on the court. He may see things a little differently now.
Being master is the sort of task you would want to do for 32 years _ that’s when Connolly attains the retiring age of 70. He will be 38 tomorrow. Happy birthday, Terry.