No minister is an island

Was it the late Joh Bjelke-Petersen who was unable to explain what the separation of powers in the Westminster system meant? The three ministers could be accused of the same thing. Our system of Law is not perfect but it does protect us from all sorts of arbitrary rule.

This is wrong, all this shows is that Australian politicians believe they are above the law, have been proven that they now are

Minister Sukkar is also my local member. He was reported to have said 'It's the attitude of judges like these which has eroded any trust that remained in our legal system’. I suggested to him that if he really did say that, then ‘it’s the statements of politicians like these which have eroded any trust that remained in our political system’. It is incredible that three Ministers of the Crown, all lawyers to boot, could have spoken out as they did.

“This is no abstract notion, but a living principle that is performed daily by ministers, public servants, and parliamentarians including through speech. Failing to adhere to these basic norms of good governance puts our system at risk.” Karen Percy, ABC, 25/6/17, writes: “Three ministers have avoided charges after apologising for comments about "weak" terrorism sentencing in Victoria, as the state's appeals court increased the jail terms given to two would-be terrorists…. In the case of Besim …. a court statement said…. "The sentence did not accord with community expectations" …. In the case of MHK, the Court of Appeal found the sentence to be "wholly inadequate"” The ministers were correct. The sentencing by the lower Victorian courts was ‘weak’. But they were speaking outside their portfolios. Why shouldn’t the federal minister whose portfolio covers terrorism, or a backbencher in the Commonwealth or Victorian parliaments, this week, now that the cases are over, speak in the chamber about how the Victorian executive picks judges? Some of the most stinging comments on a majority US Supreme Court decision come from dissenters on the same bench. Why shouldn’t a member of the executive or legislature pick up and run with that ball?

We have in power men who have no compunction with regard to thuggery. Joh is a good model: he excelled at flinging his verbal weight around. The way business is done is that you get away with what you can, you destroy anyone you don't like, especially if they are on the other side of politics, by denigrating them, insulting them, ridiculing them, trying to hound them out of office. I know very little about the workings of the courts of law, but constantly I am relieved that they are there to rein in the worst excesses, to bring to justice former ministers of the crown who have disregarded the law in their grab for wealth and to bring a skerrick of protection for those most vulnerable among us, including the asylum seekers and refugees we, as a nation, so cruelly oppress. God help us if the executive arm ever succeeds in hobbling the legal arm.

Thanks, Kate. In essence the "free speech" argument may have some validity if it were a matter of three ordinary citizens talking in the pub, but not for ministers of the government.

That the court has determined that there is a prima facie case that the statements were sub judice should have been reason enough for these three parliamentarians to resign their seats. They have not done so and thus show themselves to be unfit for public office. They and their party ignore their constituted role as elected representatives which demands wise political conduct that protects the integrity of the courts. That they have not resigned after this statement by the court shows continued contempt and unwillingness, and the continued contempt and unwillingness of their party machine, to discipline themselves according to principles of democratic governance which they, and we their electors, are bound to uphold. There are many other examples of parliamentarians - with Liberal Party Parliamentarians leading the way - assuming that election to parliament gives them permission to "vent" in the way they have done. They may retain their seats but they do so by further eroding public trust in our parliamentary system of public governance, avoiding basic principle in order to continue to blame their opponents for blurring the line of separation between parliamentary power and that of the courts.

An excellent piece on a very significant problem... thanks

The near simultaneous comments on the courts by the three ministers was not a spontaneous outpouring but a carefully calculated attack. But although it was directed at the judiciary, this was not its real purpose. Its purpose was to appeal to a section of the electorate that the Coalition desperately needs for re-election, namely ignorant bigots. It is a tactic that was used to great effect in Trump's election campaign and its source is Steve Bannon who perfected it when he was editor of the Breibart News website. It was directly aimed at the lowest instincts of the "deplorables" in our society whom Turnbull sees as his last hope. As Sam Tanenhaus pointed out in a recent column in the New York Review of books, Bannon's tactic was to spread lurid stories of a crime- and sex-crazed immigrant population, growing but half hidden, which set upon white citizens and the police, who were powerless to make arrests and get convictions because of liberal politicians and judges. In this case the particulars may be different but the tactic was the same. It was a disgraceful intervention by one arm of government on another. Hunt , Tudge and Sukkar stand condemned.