Ceremonial Sitting of the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (Div 1) for the Honourable Justice Mark Anderson
Speech delivered by Mr Greg Howe on behalf of the President of the Law Council of Australia at the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia, Parramatta, New South Wales, 15 August 2024.
"May it please the Court. I acknowledge Ms Knowles representing the Attorney-General; Your Honour the Chief Justice and other Justices of the Court, both in person and remotely; Ms Ward SC on behalf of the Australian Bar Association and all other judicial officers participating in this ceremony. And, of course, I acknowledge you, Justice Anderson.
I respectfully acknowledge that this ceremonial sitting takes place on the traditional land of the Dharug people and I pay my respects, and those for whom I speak, to their Elders, past and present.
And I speak today on behalf of the President of the Law Council of Australia (Mr Greg McIntyre SC), the President of The Law Society of NSW (Mr Brett McGrath), the President of The Law Society of SA (Mr Alexander Lazarevich) and on behalf of the Chair of the Family Law Section of the Law Council of Australia (Ms Di Simpson), its Executive, and 3,300 members.
I have been privileged to be the South Australian representative on the Family Law Section Executive since 2006.
And it therefore gives me particular pleasure to address the Court at this ceremony, as Your Honour has been a member of the Section for almost your whole career in the law, since you astutely ditched a fledging career in commercial law with Minter Ellison and saw the green fields of family law as a more enticing journey for you.
And it is a particular personal pleasure to address the Court today, as I have known Your Honour since you started in family law and my firm has regularly briefed you, with great confidence and satisfaction, for a number of years. And I’m pleased to note the presence here in person of a number of Adelaide practitioners – a lovely and appropriate compliment to Your Honour.
Not only has Your Honour been a member of the Section for many years, but in particular Your Honour has been a strong, steadfast and active supporter of the Section’s work. Your Honour has faithfully attended flagship educational events held by the Section, namely our biennial National Family Law Conferences and our annual Family Law Intensive Series.
Your Honour has always been a willing contributor to those events as a speaker or panellist, most recently at the Intensive in Adelaide, and at the enormously successful National Family Law Conference in Adelaide two years ago."
Read the full speech below.
Last Updated on 19/08/2024