Wednesday 25 May 2016
Hansard of the Legislative Council

SUPREME COURT AMENDMENT (JUDGES) BILL 2016 (No. 15)

Mr FINCH (Rosevears)- Mr President, well covered by the member for Mersey, in respect of that letter from Chris Gunson.  There is no need for me to refer to it. 

There are a couple of reasons why I support this bill.  The first is, it seems absurd that a full-time salary goes to someone who works only part-time.  It does not happen in the real world.

The second reason is that the amendments in this bill were at the request of the Chief Justice so he would be observing the development of this situation.  An extra reason is that it makes way for judges to be appointed either on a full-time or a part-time basis, which gives the Supreme Court more flexibility to respond to changes in the work flow.  If there is another reason for my support the original act dates back to 1887 and we have moved on from that time, or most of us have.