Current who's who in AAT Zoo 2019

[Deleted]

A who’s who in the AAT zoo

The federal government has appointed 66 members and senior members to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal over the past six years who have direct Liberal or National Party affiliations, some of them with no legal qualifications. Here they are:

Gary Humphries
ACT
Former Liberal senator
John Sosso
QLD
Director-General, Justice Department (Newman government)
Robert Cameron
VIC
Liberal Chairman Kew State Electoral Council
Paul Clauson AM
QLD
Former attorney-general and minister under Liberal government
Michael Cooke*
NSW
Former adviser to Tony Abbott
Denis Dragovic*
VIC
Liberal preselection for the House of Representatives; Victorian Senate preselection
Ann Duffield*
QLD
Former chief of staff to Scott Morrison
Richard Ellis
WA
Former chief of staff to former premier Colin Barnett
Matthew Groom
VIC
Former Liberal Party member for Denison
James Lambie
QLD
Former policy adviser; senior adviser and chief of staff to George Brandis
Donald Morris*
VIC
Former senior adviser to Eric Abetz
Andew Nikolic AM CSC*
VIC
Former Liberal member of House of Representatives
Justin Owen
NSW
Lifetime member of the Sydney University Liberal Club; former treasurer of the Australian Liberal Students Federation
Jason Pennell
VIC
Liberal preselection for the House of Representatives
Belinda Pola
QLD
Former chief of staff to Mathias Cormann; former staffer to Joe Hockey
Christopher Puplick AM*
NSW
Former Liberal senator
Theo Tavoularis
QLD
Liberal Party donor; represented former AG George Brandis' son in a criminal case.
Rachel Westaway
VIC
Former Liberal candidate for the NSW Upper House
Antoinette Younes
NSW
Former adviser to Michaelia Cash
Dominic Katter
QLD
Queensland Liberal National Party "law and order adviser"
Hedley Chapman*
SA
Former Liberal Party member for Kingston; former senator
Rodrigo Pintos-Lopez
VIC
In-house counsel for former Victorian premier Ted Baillieu.
William Stefaniak AM RFD
ACT
Former Leader of the Opposition (for the Liberal Party) ACT
Ian Berry
QLD
Former LNP member for Ipswich
Simone Burford
WA
Adviser and chief of staff to former attorney-general Daryl Robert Williams; chief of staff to former communications minister Richard Alston; senior adviser to John Howard
Helena Claringbold
NSW
Former staffer to Tony Abbott
David Crawshay OAM
VIC
Former Liberal Party staffer
Brendan Darcy
VIC
Former adviser to Kevin Andrews
Phoebe Dunn
VIC
Former senior adviser to former attorney-general Daryl Williams
Peter Emmerton*
SA
Former adviser to Liberal Minister of Education and Training
Shane Evans*
NSW
Former adviser to the Howard Government; media adviser and chief of staff to Minister for Fair Trading NSW
Joseph Francis*
WA
Former Liberal Member for Jandakot
William Frost
ACT
Former senior adviser to Christian Porter
Steven Griffiths*
SA
Former Liberal Member for Goyder
George Hallwood*
SA
President of a Liberal Party branch
Keith Kendall
VIC
University Liberal Club member
Nora Lamont*
VIC
Liberal Party member; Councillor for Mullum Ward, Maroondah City Council
Russell Matheson
NSW
Former Liberal Party member for Macarthur
David McCulloch
NSW
Former policy adviser to Communications Minister Paul Fletcher; staffer to former senator Amanda Vanstone
Nicholas McGowan
VIC
Liberal candidate for Jagajaga
Karen McNamara*
NSW
Former Liberal Party member for Dobell
Justin Meyer
VIC
Former senior adviser to former premier Dennis Napthine; Donated > $11,000 to the Liberal Party
Helen Moreland*
VIC
Former senior adviser to Tony Abbott
Perrohean Sperling PSM
VIC
Former senior adviser to John Howard
Michael Sutherland OAM
WA
Former Liberal member for Mount Lawley; former speaker of the WA Legislative Assembly
Peter Vlahos
VIC
Liberal candidate for Chisholm
Robert Baldwin*
NSW
Former Liberal member for Paterson
Anthony Barry
VIC
Former press adviser to Malcolm Turnbull
Stephen Barton*
WA
Former chief of staff to former WA Legislative Assembly member Joseph Francis
Jane Bell
VIC
Liberal preselection for the House of Representatives
Suzanne Boyce FAICD*
QLD
Former Liberal senator
Louise Bygrave*
NSW
Former senior adviser Liberal MP Tim Wilson
Dawn Fitzgerald
WA
Former chief of staff to a WA Liberal minister
Ian Fletcher AM
WA
Former chief of staff to former WA premier Richard Court
Margaret Forrest
QLD
Senior adviser to the Department of Justice and AG (Newman government); electorate officer for AG George Brandis
John Griffin*
VIC
Former chief of staff to for Victorian premier Jeff Kennett
Meredith Jackson
QLD
Former chief of staff to Christopher Pyne
De-Anne Kelly*
QLD
National Member for Dawson
Helen Kroger*
VIC
Former president of the Victorian Liberal Party; former Liberal senator
Michael Manetta
SA
Liberal candidate for seat of Torrens
Stephen Parry*
TAS
Former Tasmanian Senate president
Donna Petrovich*
VIC
Former Liberal member in the Victorian Legislative Council
Susan Reece Jones
VIC
Liberal Party member
Brian Warren Stooke AM*
VIC
Liberal Party member
Andrew Tragardh
VIC
Liberal preselection for the Victorian Legislative Assembly
*No known legal qualification, or has not been able to provide evidence of qualification when contacted.

www.crikey.com.au/2019/09/24/a-whos-who-in-the-aat-zoo/

[Denis-NFA]

And an accompanying article to that list www.crikey.com.au/2019/09/24/aat-anatomy-of-a-scandal/

It’s a glittering prize: a job as a member of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal, one of the plummest appointments within the gift of a federal government.

Tenure of up to seven years, renewable. Annual salary of up to $385,000 for senior members. Removal only by order of the governor-general after a vote from both houses of parliament. No compulsory retirement age. The prestige of effectively being a judge sitting atop a multi-pronged legal institution whose annual budget is nine times more than the cost of running the High Court.

[Deleted]

Sept 24, 2019 15:19:59 GMT 7 Denis-NFA said:

And an accompanying article to that list www.crikey.com.au/2019/09/24/aat-anatomy-of-a-scandal/

It’s a glittering prize: a job as a member of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal, one of the plummest appointments within the gift of a federal government.

Tenure of up to seven years, renewable. Annual salary of up to $385,000 for senior members. Removal only by order of the governor-general after a vote from both houses of parliament. No compulsory retirement age. The prestige of effectively being a judge sitting atop a multi-pronged legal institution whose annual budget is nine times more than the cost of running the High Court.

Denis-NFA

Thank you for the accompanying article. It puts the AAT in somewhat more perspective; especially when added to all of the *'s. of no known legal qualification, or has not been able to provide evidence of qualification when contacted.

Surely that's a worthwhile scandal in itself to pursue........can you have a fair and truly independent hearing in such circumstances. I'd say it would be very debatable with the number of ex government of the day staffers and apparatchiks installed as tribunal members. 

Cheers bear

[nomadic]

Yeah, they stuffed it with cronies before the last election as they were expecting to lose. That's old news but maybe even more since. WHY the mainstream media don't take these things up makes me GROWL even more than the actual crimes.

[Denis-NFA]

I nominate nomadic for the next vacant position.

All those in favour say AYE.

AYE.

All those opposed say NAY

*crickets*

Ladies and Gentlemen the AYES have it.

nomadic you are hereby nominated for the next available vacancy on the AAT.

[nomadic]

I'm not a bloody LNP stooge.

[Denis-NFA]

Sept 24, 2019 19:10:26 GMT 7 nomadic said:

I'm not a bloody LNP stooge.

We don't want an LNP stooge. They have enough of them already!

We want a DANC guerilla fighter who can operate behind enemy lines.

DANC being DSP, AP, Newstart and Carers.

[nomadic]

I was in contact again recently with someone in the media who I thought/hoped would take up these stories and more but after false hope, it seems like hitting your head on a brick wall. They answer your emails to begin but then ignore them. Infuriates me with their lack of ethics in no replies even. No better than the politicians are journalists from my experiences. Even the ABC.

[prodius]

Sept 25, 2019 6:38:52 GMT 7 nomadic said:

I was in contact again recently with someone in the media who I thought/hoped would take up these stories and more but after false hope, it seems like hitting your head on a brick wall. They answer your emails to begin but then ignore them. Infuriates me with their lack of ethics in no replies even. No better than the politicians are journalists from my experiences. Even the ABC.

Know the feeling. I've tried myself in the past, even with government legal systems in other areas. Corruption abounding everywhere, now it seems it's becoming overt. I've given up.

[Denis-NFA]

nomadic and prodius

May the TAB be with you for your efforts though.

[nomadic]

I will never give up trying to let the world at large know what we here all know but I don't let it consume me at the same time. Just every now and again when the opportunity arises. TAB awaits is the only sure thing if TAB is willing.

[bear]

Coalition appoints former Liberal MP to tribunal tasked with reviewing government decisions

Attorney general says appointees are ‘highly qualified’ for Administrative Appeals Tribunal roles while Labor accuses Coalition of stacking body

Christian Porter has appointed four Coalition figures including former Liberal MP Jane Prentice to a key tribunal tasked with reviewing government decisions.

Prentice is one of three former parliamentarians appointed to the administrative appeals tribunal on Friday, joining Victorian Labor upper house member Phil Dalidakis and former South Australian Labor deputy premier John Rau.

The tribunal reviews the merits of ministerial and departmental decisions in areas including migration, disability insurance, social services and freedom of information. Appointments have become controversial after allegations from Labor of partisan stacking.

Prentice served three terms in parliament, rising to assistant minister for social services and disability services, and has been appointed a full-time member to the tribunal.

The other new appointees with Liberal links were Angela Julian-Armitage, a barrister and immigration law expert as well as a former Liberal candidate for the Queensland state seat of Bulimba, and Rachel Da Costa and Namoi Dougall, both lawyers and former government staffers.

In 2017, Julian-Armitage defended Coalition policy to impose tougher English language requirements on aspiring Australian citizens.

She told Sky News those with greater competence in English are “better equipped to integrate into our community and better understand our values and our way of living”.

Porter, the attorney general, said in a statement that “all of the appointees are highly qualified to undertake the important task of conducting merits review of government decisions”.

Labor has repeatedly accused the Coalition of stacking the tribunal, including the appointment of six of its former parliamentarians and eight former staffers in February 2019.

Da Costa worked as an adviser to then-attorney general Daryl Williams and a senior adviser to then-communications minister Helen Coonan.

Dougall is a former member of the migration and refugee tribunals, chief of staff to former NSW Nationals minister Don Page and adviser to former federal health minister Michael Wooldridge.

In 2009 Dougall put her hand up for Liberal preselection in Bradfield to replace Brendan Nelson, a position won by now communications minister Paul Fletcher.

Rau, a former adviser in the Hawke government, served as deputy premier of South Australia from 2011 to 2018 and as the attorney general.

Dalidakis is a former minister for small business, innovation and trade in the first Andrews government and once accused the home affairs minister, Peter Dutton, of “race-baiting”, prompting legal threats from Dutton.

In November Guardian Australia revealed the administrative appeals tribunal had asked Tony Barry, a former staffer to then-Victorian opposition leader Matthew Guy and then-federal opposition leader Malcolm Turnbull, to explain his work as a consultant for Next Level Strategic Services. Labor warned the dual roles might constitute a conflict of interest.

www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/dec/18/coalition-appoints-former-liberal-mp-to-tribunal-tasked-with-reviewing-government-decisions