Interview with Sir William Kearney, Judge of the Supreme Court of the Northern Territory from 1982 / interviewer, Diana Giese.

1998

25877

Kearney, William, -- Sir, -- 1935-.

Northern Territory. -- Supreme Court.

Lawyers -- Australia.

Judges -- Australia.

Papua New Guinea -- Politics and government.

Kearney speaks of his period as a legal officer in the Federal Public Service stationed in Papua New Guinea from 1963 at a time when there was great pressure to train an elite of Papua New Guineans but who were in too short a supply to meet the deadline set for Independence, how the speed of change meant there was not enough provision made to guard against future corruption and simplifying government structures, how the Public Service Commission operated in New Guinea, discusses some local success stories such as Chief Justice Buri Kidu and trade unionist Charles Laparni, how following Independence the bureaucracy was corrupted by the politicians but feels that the ombudsman and judiciary remain effective, how the press still remains independent, how the constitution created a Declaration of Human Rights contributed to people moving into impoverished cities and joining rascal gangs and their links to politicians, his period in Papua New Guinea until 1982 and the changes following Independence, the promotion.

Compact disc.

TRC 3818

Access open for research, personal copies and public use.

Recorded on Dec. 18, 1998 in Darwin, N.T.

Oral History Collection.

South Pacific collection.

2 sound discs (ca. 130 min.) : digital + transcript (63 pages ).