Celebration of Supreme Court Sesquicentenary in Bowen

On Monday, 21 October 2024, a combined ceremonial sitting of the Supreme Court of Queensland, District Court of Queensland and Magistrates Courts of Queensland took place in Bowen, to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the establishment of the Supreme Court in Bowen.

Today, Bowen is a moderately sized, but thriving, regional city, but 150 years ago it was expected to become the main agricultural and trading centre in the region. However, not long after the Court’s establishment it became clear that Townsville and Cairns to the north would become the region’s major centres of population and commerce. Despite this reality, Bowen’s attractive colonial era Court building remains in use, home to a permanent Magistrates Court, circuiting District Court and busy court Registries. See photographs below.

Upon the ceremony, the bench comprised Chief Justice Bowskill,  Justice North, Chief Judge Devereaux SC, Judge Lynham, Judge Coker, Chief Magistrate Judge Brassington, Deputy Chief Magistrate Gett and Magistrate Howard. It is the first time in Queensland’s history that a joint ceremonial sitting of all three Courts has been held. All are photographed below on the bench and after the ceremony.

The ceremony commenced with a smoking ceremony conducted by Uncle Randal Ross, elder of the Juru People, followed by proceeding in the courtroom at Bowen. Uncle Randal addressed the proceeding, welcoming all those present and speaking informatively of the history – ancient and recent – of the local Juru people. See photograph below of the smoking ceremony.

Below is a record of the speeches made on this special occasion.

Thanks to Chief Justice Bowskill and Franklin Richards of counsel (Assistant Public Defender based in Townsville) for contributing the material of this regional bar piece.

Bowen Courthouse 2006

THE CHIEF JUSTICE: Good morning everyone. This is a special ceremonial sitting of the Supreme Court together with the District Court and the Magistrates Court. I am delighted to be joined on the Bench by the Northern Judge, Justice North, by the Chief Judge, and Judges Lynham and Coker, by the Chief Magistrate, Deputy Chief Magistrate Gett, and Magistrate Howard.

We hold this ceremonial sitting to mark and celebrate the 150th anniversary of the establishment of the Supreme Court here at Bowen.

I am delighted to see all of you who have come along to celebrate this special occasion today. We are joined by a number of special and distinguished guests. I will not try and name everybody, but I will note, with pleasure, the presence of Mr Randal Ross from the Juru people, who will shortly welcome us; Ms Rebecca Fogerty, the president of the Queensland Law Society; and Mr Justin Greggery KC, representing the Queensland Bar Association; as well as Mr Fuller KC, the Director of Public Prosecutions.

We are delighted to have with us also the Honourable Stan Jones AO, retired Supreme Court judge, the Far Northern Judge, and Mrs Helena Jones. The Honourable Kerry Cullinane, retired Northern Judge, is here with us as well. We are really pleased that you have been able to join us. And retired District Court Judge, Mr Robert Pack OAM, and Mrs Wendy Pack KC.

There are many other barristers and solicitors, both from Brisbane, Townsville, here locally in Bowen and elsewhere, who have joined us, and we are really all delighted that you have made the effort to come along. I acknowledge the Juru people as the first owners of this area, and commend their ancestors and elders for their courage, wisdom and leadership. I am grateful to Mr Randal Ross for welcoming us here to Bowen.

UNCLE RANDAL ROSS: Thank you, Chief Justice.

Wadda mooli thulgarri,Wobuna banbari Jangaru “coolengi”, Binda youndu Widtaru, Jangaru – binda youdu – banbari, Wungu, Guburu, Kuriagella,Binda youndu Yuru/Juru – Kyburra Munda Yalga, Juru Enterprise Limited & Yuru Sovereign Tribal Governing CouncilBinda Youndu – Gia, Naro, Birria, Yanga, Nywagai

Mariakarti nyawa, kurranyu nyinama – Look back if you want to go forward

And today, what I share as a part of this welcome is to not point fingers, but to provide understanding. Language of my people that I speak is not only Birri Gubba, but also share my Tanami Desert family, Walmajarri, Kukatja. Today, in my possession as a part of this special occasion, I hold a Juru or Yuru ceremony sword known as Picarun. This sword is over 200 years old as a part of our ceremony, and this here represents our people that have travelled far and wide as part of our moiety. It is important as a part of today’s ceremony that I talk about the law, which has existed for over 40,000 years amongst our people, but still exists today and is very much practiced as a part of our people and with our other original descendants across this nation. Outside Bowen, in the area our people called Worral Burral, sits a special landmark. That is a symbol of our ancient law known as Tjukurrpa. On a rock, outside a property only 10 kilometres outside Bowen, sits the symbol of three circles. Under our law, these three circles represent our human world, our system which declares how we live, our relationships, who we marry, represents our ceremonies, our kinships, our mannerisms, our social obligations and the ability to adapt to change.

Our second symbol, the circle, is our physical world, which affirms our allodial title from the sun, the moon, the stars to the core of the earth, on our lands, every tree, plant, rocks, hills and rivers, including our river life known as Mal Mal, the Burdekin River, which the painting sits on our mountain 15 kilometres outside of here, Bowen, and our oceans, including the animals which connect us, through our Dreamtime stories such as Maloo, Kuiyam, Seven Sisters.

Lastly, our sacred. The last circle is our sacred world, which healing comes in many forms: punishment, spiritual and physical; our Dreamtime stories that connect us back to our source, the creator, Munda Gutta, or what you all know as God; caring for our country, and waters and the seasons; ability to exist outside of time; and, of course, our law. These our ancestor and systems, which worked prior to colonisation, and there is no reason this system that represents our past, present and future, social and spiritual laws that still are present today and can co-exist with our law that is on our land.

In July 2014 and in June 2015, consent determinations of the Federal Court recognised the Juru people’s exclusive and non-exclusive native title between the Burdekin River and Bowen, including Cape Upstart and the Elliot River Region. Although native title is not our people’s concept, but a concept that has been imposed by laws governed by the Federal Government, our people will work with this legislation to make it effective for our people and their families.

Today, we celebrate the Supreme Court 150 years, which I thank Chief Justice Helen Bowskill, and Justice David North, and their esteemed colleagues of the District Court, and Magistrates Court and the Bar table, the dignitaries and their families. As the chair of Kyburra Munda Yalga of the Juru registered native title body corporate, we welcome you all on our lands and our ancestors and descendants of the Yuru, Juru peoples.

THE CHIEF JUSTICE: Thank you very much, Mr Ross, for that warm welcome. Bowen is significant in the history of Queensland. It is even more significant in the history of the Juru people.

The State of Queensland, as many of you would know, was established more than 165 years ago on the 6th of June 1859. An article in the Sydney Morning Herald, on the 24th of November 1959, reported the discovery of a new harbour in Edgecumbe Bay by Captain Sinclair, the master of the ship, Santa Barbara. He named the harbour Port Denison. In 1861, Port Denison was renamed Bowen after Queensland’s first governor, Sir George Ferguson Bowen.

The first interactions between the Europeans and the Aboriginal people already living here described those Aboriginal people as strong and daring, as well as ingenious.

The Supreme Court of Queensland was established on 7 August 1861, by the Supreme Court Constitution and Amendment Act of that year. The first judge of Queensland was named Alfred James Peter Lutwyche, and the first Chief Justice was James Cockle, appointed in February 1863. The Supreme Court initially only sat in Brisbane. The administration of justice in Bowen was the responsibility of the Police Magistrate, a person named Mr George Elphinstone Dalrymple. Although there were some problems, including not having enough Justices of the Peace to resolve disputes, a modern problem as well, it is said that Bowen soon became a centre of importance in the administration of law in North Queensland.

From 1863, there were regular Supreme Court circuits to Rockhampton. However, as time passed and settlement extended northwards, the population spread well beyond convenient reach of that centre. According to Bruce McPherson’s history of the Supreme Court of Queensland, to cater for this and also to appease the north, where signs of a separation movement were already appearing, the decision was taken to locate a Supreme Court judge in the northern part of the colony. That occurred in 1874, when the number of Supreme Court judges increased from three to four, with provision for one of those judges to sit as the Northern Judge, resident here in Bowen.

That judge was Mr Justice Edmund Sheppard, and you will see a photograph of him on the wall at the back of the court. He was appointed in July 1874 and elevated from the Metropolitan District Court to the Supreme Court at Bowen.

There was a temporary Courthouse constructed in Bowen in about March 1863. It consisted of a slab hut without waterproofing or a verandah. One can only imagine how uncomfortable that would have been here in the tropical north. It was regarded as wholly inadequate and local members of the community agitated for a number of years for a proper Courthouse to be established.

In November 1865, Bowen was proclaimed a Northern District Court town. Bowen’s first District Court Judge was Joseph George Long Innes, appointed in December 1865.

The first sitting of the District Court happened in March the next year, when Judge Long Innes heard the first case, involving a charge of assault on a young girl by a local doctor. He was found guilty and sentenced to six months’ hard labour. The trial was held in the Town Council building because Judge Long Innes considered the temporary Courthouse a disgrace to any civilised place in the 19th century. He also agitated for many years with the government to try to get a proper Courthouse built.

There is the next reflection of contemporary times, where there is an ongoing request, perhaps is the easiest way to put it, from our various courts to the government for improved infrastructure, particularly in Townsville, but I am digressing.

The Bowen Supreme Court was formally opened before the first Northern Judge, Mr Justice Sheppard, on the 21st of October 1874, exactly 150 years ago today. It was such a significant event that a public holiday was proclaimed on 24 October to celebrate its opening. Sadly, I have not been able to arrange a public holiday for us this week.

Bowen Courthouse 1894

The first sitting of the Supreme Court in Bowen was on 26 February 1875. Justice Sheppard was said to have been a conscientious judge, who performed his judicial duties with ability, although not without attracting some criticism over the time that he took to deliver reserved judgments; demonstrating that the single most stressful part of the job of any judicial officer, reserved judgments, has always been so.

Initially, the Supreme Court sat in the Police Magistrate’s building. The battle for the construction of a new courthouse continued until late 1879 when construction of this courthouse commenced. It was completed and ready to occupy in July 1881. The building was designed by the Colonial Architect’s Office during the time when F D G Stanley was the Colonial Architect. It was designed and built to house both the Northern Supreme Court, facing Herbert Street, and the Bowen Post Office and State Government offices, facing Williams Street. Justice Sheppard, therefore, had very little opportunity to sit here. In fact, it is my understanding that he never did have any opportunity to do so because he went on leave and sadly died in 1882.

The next Northern Judge to be appointed following Justice Sheppard’s death was Justice Pope Alexander Cooper. You can also see a photograph of him on the wall down here. Interestingly, Cooper was the first Australian born judge to be appointed to the bench in Queensland and, at 36, the youngest judge ever appointed. Apparently, his grandfather had been transported to Australia as a convict in 1813. It has been said that his good looks, style of dress and taste for good living earned him the reputation of a “swell”, and he came into conflict with the government over the alleged extravagance of his circuit expenses as the Northern Judge. Among his alleged extravagances was an insistence on always having a plentiful supply of ice to cool his champagne, which was said to be “indispensable to judicial ministration”. I think I could welcome that argument, although I did wonder where did he get and keep all that ice in this tropical climate.

By 1889, Justice Cooper was spending almost half of his time on circuit and much of it in Townsville, which reflected the substantial population increase north and north-west, following extensive gold discoveries. As also recorded by Bruce McPherson, in the history of the Supreme Court of Queensland, by 1889 there were only 1500 or 1600 people living in Bowen compared to a total population of some 70,000 north of Cape Palmerston. There was also the practicality of better access routes from Townsville to inland resources. Although Bowen had an excellent harbour, its location on a flood plain meant the port was regularly cut-off from the hinterland for extended periods. By an Act in 1889, the Northern Court was moved to Townsville, and Townsville has continued to be the centre of the northern region and the home of the Northern Judge – since 2011, the very aptly named Justice North.

Along the way in this historical journey, in 1921, the District Courts were abolished, and the court’s jurisdiction was divided between the Magistrates and Supreme Courts. But the District Courts were re-established in 1958. Bowen continued as a circuit town for the Supreme Court until about 1959 when the District Courts were re-established. The Supreme Court has also sat here at other times when necessary or appropriate.

I am not sure if this was the last time the Supreme Court sat here, but Justice Henry, who is the Far Northern Judge and was very sorry not to be able to be here today, told me about a criminal trial that he prosecuted before Justice Cullinane, who was the 11th Northern Judge in about 1999, which was partly heard here in Bowen using a space at the local TAFE. It was the prosecution of the person charged with the murder of Rachel Antonio.

Of course, the District Court regularly circuits here, and the Magistrates Court sits here every Tuesday. Other Courts, like the Federal Court, have also used this Courthouse, including for one of the native title determinations that we have heard about recognising the Juru people.

The story of the Bowen Courthouse is emblematic of the development of North Queensland and the prominence of Bowen in those early years. It is also a central part of the development of the justice system in Queensland. It is an honour and a privilege to be able to be here today as Chief Justice of Queensland to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the establishment of the Supreme Court at Bowen. I am delighted to be able to do that jointly with my other judicial colleagues here on the Bench and also with all of the important guests who are here.

THE CHIEF JUDGE: If I may just adopt the Chief Justice’s acknowledgement of various people, although I particularly thank Mr Randal Ross, representing the Juru people, for the welcome to the country. The Chief Justice has mentioned Bowen’s first District Court judge, Joseph George Long Innes, was appointed in December 1865. The 1865 legislation, which brought the District Courts into existence, provided for three districts. Relevantly, the Northern District included Bowen. Denver Beanland in his book about the District Court called A Court Apart described the Northern District as stretching from the Maroochy River to the western boundary of the colony and included all of the north.

As the Chief Justice has said, the system of District Courts was abolished by the Supreme Court Act of 1921, taking effect early in 1922. The Courts were resurrected when the District Courts Act of 1958 came into force in March 1959 and Bowen was one of 26 centres at which District Courts were approved, and so Bowen, this building, remains an important part of the Court’s work.

I recall appearing here in this building in a contested sentence in a Commonwealth prosecution. I was pretty newly the public defender at Legal Aid Queensland, and I acknowledge Peter Delibaltas, the acting CEO of Legal Aid Queensland here today. The Commonwealth DPP briefed Stewart Durward, who was just not yet silk at that stage and later, of course, was a judge of the Court – unfortunately Stewart is not able to be present today – and we were before Judge Wall QC. The hearing lasted several days, and it was an interesting experience. I was instructed by Kevin Baxter, and I had the chance last night to speak to Leah McDonnell, of Ruddy Tomlins & Baxter, about the case.

I have not sat here in Bowen as a judge yet. In fact, it is pretty clear that the Townsville judges covet the Bowen circuit. I am not saying they keep it a secret, but there is a pattern. I had a chance to look back through the last five or six years: “Lynham, Coker, Coker, Lynham”, sometimes “Lynham, Coker, Lynham, Coker”. They have offered the opportunity to me to take a circuit here, and I will, in 2026. On behalf of the judges of the District Court, thank you to all who have contributed to this occasion, and, Chief Justice, thank you for including the District and Magistrates Courts.

THE CHIEF JUSTICE: I will now pass over to the Chief Magistrate.

THE CHIEF MAGISTRATE: Thank you, Chief Justice, Justice North, fellow judicial officers and distinguished guests. I, too, would like to acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land that we meet on today, the Juru peoples, and pay my respects to their elders, past, present and emerging. Bowen’s first Courthouse did accommodate the Police Magistrates’ Court. They were Justices of the Peace and Police Magistrates appointed to Bowen, responsible not just for the administration of law in the courts, they performed a wide range of duties as representatives of the central government. They acted as electoral officers, registrars of births, deaths and marriages, agents of the Land Department. They managed customs, immigration and quarantine officials. In that way, they reflected the Roman model of a Magistrate, who combined civil management, adjudicator and government official in one role. Many did it very well, but it was a harsh world and a harsh time.

The first Police Magistrate of Bowen, George Dalrymple, also assumed command of the Native Mounted Police, and there is documented history of his involvement in the displacement and killing of local Aboriginal peoples, who vigorously resisted the occupation of their lands. Outside the Brisbane Magistrates Court is an artwork entitled Witnessing to Silence. They were originally framed as a reflection of the impacts on the natural environment. The true meaning of that artwork was later revealed by its creator, Dr Fiona Foley, to mark the massacre sites of First Nation’s peoples in Queensland, and Witnessing to Silence stands as an important reminder to all of us who work in that building of our shared history.

Distinguished professor Larissa Behrendt AO delivered the inaugural lecture in the Magistrates Court commemorating the re-dedication of that artwork in 2022. In 2023, she said, “It is incumbent upon us to face this reality to look at these truths, to do this truth-telling, because if we do not understand this past, we cannot be honest about our present and we cannot properly imagine our future.”The Justices Act of 1886 set the course for establishing the magistracy properly in Queensland, provided for the appointment of justices, as they were known, and Police Magistrates. The Act was the result of the work of the then Chief Justice Sir James Cockle with much assistance and revision by Sir Samuel Griffith, and it is literally still with us, somewhat amended, somewhat cobbled together, still the determinative factor of jurisdiction in the Magistrates Court, resting on the travel time of horses.

Magistrates stopped being Police Magistrates in 1941 and became Stipendiary Magistrates. That means literally salaried Magistrates. However, the most dramatic effect on the magistracy in the 20th century was the passing of the Magistrates Act of 1991. That Act sought to specifically recognise Magistrates as part of the judiciary and as independent judicial officers fully removed from any involvement in executive government.

Through all that change, Magistrates have served and carried out their duties here in Bowen, and they continue to do so. So it is a great honour for me today to be able to be here in Bowen, reflect on these matters with the Chief Justice, the Chief Judge, Justice North, fellow judicial officers and our local Magistrate, Michelle Howard, to recognise how very far we have come in 150 years. Thank you.THE CHIEF JUSTICE: I thought it was appropriate that our Northern Judge have the last word from the Bench before we turn to the Bar table. Justice North.

JUSTICE NORTH: Chief Justice, Chief Judge, Judge Lynham, Judge Coker, retired Judges of the Supreme Court and the District Courts, a special welcome to you. Members of the profession, citizens of the state and significantly those of North Queensland. I join with the Chief Justice in her acknowledgement of the representative of the first owners of the land upon which this Courthouse stands. The Chief Justice has told us that this sittings marks and celebrates the 150th anniversary of the establishment of the Supreme Court in North Queensland and, in particular, here at Bowen. I do not propose to repeat the Chief Justice, nor do I propose to detail the history of the events that first established the Supreme Court in North Queensland here at Bowen and its subsequent transfer to Townsville.

In 2011, I was appointed a judge of the Supreme Court and the Northern Judge. I, thus, became responsible for the disposition of the work of the court in the northern region, based in Townsville, but north-west to the Gulf, west to the Northern Territory border and to Mount Isa, south-west to Birdsville, and following the coast south near Bowen and north near Ingham. It is notorious that the Supreme Court of Queensland is decentralised, with the Central Judge in Rockhampton, the Northern Judge in Townsville and the Far Northern Judge based in Cairns. Thus, there are four registries of the court: Brisbane, Rockhampton, Townsville and Cairns. The vastness of the state and the decentralised population in large cities and smaller towns requires the arrangement I have briefly mentioned. It is both a political and an access to justice necessity. It is only partly addressed by modern audiovisual innovations.

The establishment of the court in Bowen 150 years ago brought to North Queensland for the first time a Court with an inherent jurisdiction, charged to see that justice be done and significantly justice according to law. The work of the court in North Queensland 150 years ago and subsequently is described by B H McPherson, a distinguished former member of this Court, in his history of the Supreme Court of Queensland, published in 1989. The Chief Justice has mentioned that work. I will not attempt to repeat her Honour’s account.

It is important not to forget that the work of the court in seeing that justice is done becomes acute when Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples come before the court. My experience when presiding at trials in Townsville, Cairns and Mount Isa has demonstrated that many are vulnerable because they have difficulty in understanding the ways of the court and have limited literacy and language skills. Not infrequently, interpreters are necessary. But there is more to it. The cultural barriers to justice exist. I pause to remind all of you of one, gratuitous concurrence, a well-recognised issue.

The Supreme Court has long recognised that in the courtroom, and in dealings with police and other branches of the State, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander persons, particularly young persons and those from remote communities, are vulnerable. In my experience, this is manifest in trials in places such as Mount Isa. This vulnerability has not escaped the Supreme Court. The recognition of this vulnerability is recorded in judgments of the court, notably, for example, Kina’s case (R v Kina [1962] Qd R 139), a judgment of Justice Gibbs when Sir Harry was a member of this Court, in 1962, and a decision in 1988 of Justice John Dowsett, then a member of this Court, in R v W & Another [1988] 2 Qd R 308.

The Supreme Court has not been minded to leave the issue of this vulnerability to be addressed as best it can be in an ad hoc way from case to case as circumstances may come before it. The Equal Treatment Benchbook, now in its second edition, is a marvellous resource giving guidance and reference to resources touching upon a wide variety of circumstances in which Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander persons may be involved before a Court. This resource is not limited to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander persons. Its content is more extensive, addressing the needs of those of various religions, or ethnic or cultural backgrounds, whom may come before this Court. It addresses a range of issues concerning persons who may have physical or intellectual disabilities, or gender or sexual orientation issues, or cultural circumstances that may render a person vulnerable or at a disadvantage in a Courtroom.

Thus, the Supreme Court is armed to deal with the wide range of issues that may arise in matters before it. The diverse community that comprises the multicultural citizens of North Queensland will find that this Court, armed with 150 years of experience in seeing to justice according to law, is equipped to address the needs of all its citizens.

THE CHIEF JUSTICE: Thank you. I will now invite Mr Justin Greggery KC to speak on behalf of the Bar Association and North Queensland Law Association.

MR GREGGERY: Your Honours, it is a pleasure to speak on behalf of the Bar Association of Queensland today, and particularly that subset of North Queensland barristers, of which I am a part, at the 150th anniversary of the opening of the Supreme Court here in Bowen. The Chief Justice, you, the Chief Judge of the District Court and the Chief Magistrate have all described the significance of Bowen’s history and the establishment of the court here.

I will not repeat any of that except to observe that the Honourable Edmund Sheppard must have been a barrister with a sense of adventure, willing to walk away from the bright lights of practice in Sydney in 1865 and take up what became a judicial appointment here. No doubt his Honour found the adventure rewarding, not to mention the scenic coastline and temperate weather, which would have eased some of the hardship of life at that time. Indeed, in 1859, Captain Henry Sinclair, to whom her Honour the Chief Justice referred, described Port Denison as screened by islands and evocative of the Bay of Naples. In doing so and ascribing these attributes to the coastline here, he was doing little more than recognising the attractiveness of the local sea, which had been known for thousands of years by the traditional owners.

The Supreme Court reports of the day show that Justice Sheppard heard matters involving claims of libel, of government trespassing onto private lands to build roads, claims of insolvency and, of course, a criminal list. There is little record of the counsel that appeared in those matters, although one reported decision mentions counsel who forcibly argued that having possession of a branding iron belonging to someone else without any intention of unlawfully using it could not constitute the offence of knowingly possessing another’s branding instrument. Unsurprisingly, the submission which sought to read an element of intention into the offence was unsuccessful.

Barristers from Rockhampton, Mackay and Townsville, each of them towns with a similar history to Bowen, have regularly appeared in this Courthouse, as have Judges of the District Court of Townsville, who, as your Honour the Chief Judge has observed, have tightly held control of the circuit listings here for decades. Perhaps after today, the attractiveness of this idyllic location will become more widely known, and on the list of requested circuit centres for District Court judges based in Brisbane, who are attracted to the history of judicially cold champagne.

It is a personal pleasure, of course, to see retired District Court Judge Robert Pack OAM present here today and Ms Wendy Pack KC, a longtime member of the Townsville Bar. In my formative years as a junior Crown Prosecutor, prone to forcibly arguing all sorts of things, I regularly appeared before Judge Pack doing circuits in this Courthouse. The manner in which he presided has many commendable features. One of those features was his willingness to provide sage advice on how to avoid being distracted from the real issues in the case by legal points with little or no consequence and how to effectively communicate with a jury. Much of that advice was imparted over dinner with counsel after each trial, a habit which fostered collegiality and made the work much more enjoyable.

Those experiences, of which the Bowen circuit was the highlight, even before the renovations here, had a lasting impression on me and no doubt many other prosecutors and defence counsel. While there are no barristers permanently resident in Bowen, barristers based in Townsville continue to appear here in the Magistrates Court and the District Court. The Townsville Bar is undergoing a season of renewal with a number of young, keen counsel joining it. Four of its current members are women, which is the highest number in its history, with two more expected to join in 2025, a very significant shift from the time when Ms Wendy Pack KC was at the Bar. This and the features to which your Honour Justice North has referred bodes well for the constancy of administration of justice from this Courthouse. May it please the court.

THE CHIEF JUSTICE: Thank you. And now I will invite Ms Fogerty, president of the Queensland Law Society to speak.

MS FOGERTY: May it please, I acknowledge the traditional custodians of this land. I pay my respects to all elders and give special acknowledgement to their children, in whose hands hold our future hopes. Mr Ross, thank you for your comments earlier. You said, “Look back if you want to go forward.” That is something we share. Our system of law, by definition, also looks to the past as its method of giving meaning to the present and the future.

It is a privilege to be here this morning on behalf of the solicitors’ branch as we reflect on history and community in this magnificent neoclassical building. Now, Queensland unfortunately is not known for its enthusiastic preservation of historic buildings. I am grateful that this Courthouse, perhaps one of the more charming in Queensland, remains. No visitor to the town centre can miss its commanding presence.Public buildings frame our experiences. In a literal sense, many of us here today have spent our careers in and around courtrooms. More importantly, for many others in this community, the course of their lives have been shaped significantly by decisions made within these walls.

A local courthouse can also carry deep symbolism, as they form a backdrop to our lives, consciously or not. We use our community buildings to construct narratives, perhaps even mythologies, about who we are and where we have come from. In contrast to the more austere, corporate homogeneity of some modern government buildings, this courthouse announces itself on the streetscape through its presence and design. As is a common feature of classical revival style, the straight lines and striking curves are symbolic of the hierarchic order of the state reinforcing the legitimacy of its power. The use of concrete and stone connote stability, discipline, social order. This is significant in a coastal location, when most buildings from this era were made of wood. One wonders if during the wild northern-frontier days of the mid-19th century, a strong and decisive architectural pronouncement was desirable to underscore the legitimacy of power.

For all the relationship too and symbolism of power and order, however, there is an intimacy to this building. Perhaps that is where the real authority lies as a central thread in the fabric of this community. As Justice North has observed, the tyranny of distance is a salient feature of regional legal centres throughout Queensland. The strength and viability of legal practice very much requires a legal system that is accessible and responsive to the community’s unique needs. Having a local Court, a building of one’s own, fosters collegiality in the local profession. When work is undertaken in a familiar setting amongst familiar colleagues, the precious bonds of trust, which underscore the legitimacy of our entire profession, develop thick and fast.

Pleasingly, I am told that, in this community, most practitioners know each other and invariably extend professional courtesies to each other which go beyond their strict obligations. The importance of a local regional Court goes beyond benefits to the profession. In this time of diminishing public trust in our institutions, a local Court provides transparency in the community. It facilitates justice being seen to be done. Trust is enhanced when the community sees that there are judicial officers and practitioners with local expertise, who understand not just local laws and regulations, but local dynamics.

Another dimension to the relationship between Courts, communities and trust is accessibility. Regional centres suffer from the centralisation of many services. Our Court system should not be one of them. The costs of litigation or criminal matters are enough without the additional burden of travel. Whilst technology facilitates appearances for mentions and reviews, it is a poor substitute for a hearing conducted in person. The importance of people retaining the ability to prosecute a claim or defend a matter in their own region cannot be understated, and as I have already noted, justice remains transparent and accessible, but there are also benefits to the regional economy. It means young lawyers get training opportunities. The mass migration of young lawyers from the regions is an acute issue. The solution lies partly in actively fostering an engaged, resilient, busy local legal community. In this regard, I pay tribute to and give thanks to the local practitioners of this area. May it please.

THE CHIEF JUSTICE: Thank you all again for coming along to this important occasion. I hope that the collegiality of the judiciary on display here is evident to all of you, and I am always, on any trip out of Brisbane, warmed by the collegiality of the profession that is on display more so than ever here. In a true generational sense also, I hope the young lawyers take the opportunity to meet with some of the not so young lawyers, because it is a rare treat for you to meet some of the people who have really chartered the course up here in the northern part of Queensland.

It is also very significant, I think, when we hear of the history, particularly about that first Police Magistrate, the dark history of Queensland, it is very significant and special that we began this ceremony in Court with Mr Ross’ welcome and taking his place at the Bar table. Thank you again. You are welcome to stay and join us for morning tea, and thank you again for joining us. Adjourn the court.