Wrap up from last week
A team of 14 members from our Bar travelled to Port Moresby last week to conduct an advocacy skills workshop. As reported by Tim Walker KC, it was “an extraordinary week, hugely demanding and highly fulfilling.” The workshop had three separate streams of participants: 150 law graduates at the Legal Training Institute; 20 government lawyers from the Solicitor-General’s office; and about 15 judicial officers from the National Court & Supreme Courts, and the Other Courts. The program was delivered under the Australian Government’s Justice Services and Stability for Development Program. Tim reports that the support and appetite in PNG for what was offered was incredible, with the Chief Justice and Solicitor-General of PNG involved in all three streams. He also said that his key takeaway is that the Victorian Bar is highly esteemed in PNG, and very well placed to take this initiative to another level. I spoke about the program at the dinner held on Wednesday night to celebrate the appointment of the Hon Mark Dreyfus KC, MP, where I was able to give the Attorney two gifts: one from the Chief Justice of PNG, Sir Gibuna Gibbs Salika, which was for Foreign Minster Penny Wong, and one from the Solicitor-General of PNG, Tauvasa Tanuvasa, which was for the Attorney himself. Tauvasa completed our Readers’ Course in 2017 and read with Maya Rozner. My sincere thanks to Maya and Peter O’Farrell for spearheading the workshop on this occasion, and to the Hon Chris Maxwell AC, the Hon Peter Riordan KC, Judicial Registrar Rosalind Avis, Carolyn Sparke KC, Tim Walker KC, Kathleen Foley SC, Jim Doherty, Shivani Pillai, Sarah Porritt, Susan Gatford, Andrew Woods and Nick Goodenough for giving up their time to deliver such a successful program. You can watch a short report about it here.
