QC or bust

NSW ginger group seeks to prise open the QC treasure chest ... Leagues Clubbers in cry for full plumage ... Rise of the one percent 

QC talk-a-thonTHE Leagues Club in Phillip Street was in ferment last night (Mon. Aug. 25) as 50 barristers crammed into a beer stained room as part of Operation QC Relaunch. 

Rick Burbidge gave a long and detailed speech, which took up most of the time allocated for the event. By the time he finished the numbers in attendance had dwindled. 

The plan was to gauge the feeling of the meeting with a view to have the bar council revisit the issue of having the glorious bauble restored in NSW. 

There was a group of three at the front of the gathering, Burbidge (supporting revisitation of the restoration), Garry McGrath (against) and Alan Sullivan (for). McGrath is on the bar council, but not representing it at the Leagues Club jamboree. 

The discussion wandered over a broad landscape and down some strange rabbit holes: solicitors were evil, mediation was bad because it reduced barristers' incomes, QCs were in the public interest, in fact it was "discriminatory" not to have QCs in NSW. 

For instance, if a long standing SC from NSW did a trial in Melbourne against a QC of five minutes standing, the Sydney brief would be at a disadvantage and regarded as inferior.  

Former Commonwealth solicitor general David Bennett told the gathering that even if QCs were not in the public interest at least they were causing no detriment to the public. 

A speaker in the opposing camp said there was no political appetite for a change. If letters patent with wax seals and so forth are to be issued to deserving barristers, a Labor government would change it back again and the whole thing would be too messy for words. If Prince Charles ever got to the throne, there would have to be a further modification to KC. 

One attendee had explored the issue of who owned the word "Queen" and whether barristers could simply call themselves Queen's Council without legislative change. 

A fresh idea from the other side of Mars was for a new Australian version of the gong - Australian Queen's Counsel or AQC. 

Proceedings were getting loopier by the minute. 

In June, Burbidge had notified people at the bar that he'd received 188 responses in favour of his proposal to revisit the issue, 187 were not interested and 106 opposed. 

By the time a vote was taken last night on a motion to ask the bar council to think again, 28 people were present, 24 voted for the motion and four against. 

Twenty eight out of a bar membership of 2,200 represents 1.27 percent of the total, and the 24 who voted to ring-in QCs represents a resounding 1.09 percent of the total. 

So while the meeting was crushingly in favour of restoring the bauble, overall the event would have to be regarded as a flop. 

What happens now? No doubt the bar council will receive with interest the overwhelming vote of support for reconsideration of its earlier resolution, and then decide that while 1.09 percent of the vote might be enough to get Ricky Muir into the Senate, it is not enough to get Operation QC Relaunch off-the-ground. 

We still have attorney general Brad Hazzard's advise ringing in our ears: 

"My instinctive response is that debate has been had. It's over. Let's move forward." 

Journalists were not welcome at last night's meeting. Thank god for that. 

See also: The Priestley Seven