The higher you go in the lifts in the NT Supreme Court building , the nearer you get to the Gods. On the hushed , hallowed fourth floor , which has the elegant atmosphere of a Swiss bank or a Chicago casket seller's showroom, are beaming photos of the bewigged judges who have passed down tablets from on high.
Another more interesting pictorial gallery spreads across two walls and shows many court houses that were built throughout the nation, some bearing the name of the architect . Interested in old buildings, we studied each photo closely until, near the bottom, we came across the familiar Third Reich-like blockhouse , the High Court of Australia , Canberra , the caption on which so faded it was illegible.
The pile, which sports something like a special waterwheel for spawning salmon heading upstream to feed on succulent Bogong moths, was built with the enthusiastic approval and involvement of the Chief Justice of the High Court,Sir Garfield Barwick , a former Liberal Minister for External Affairs .
The edifice became known as Gar’s Mahal and also Barwick’s Mausoleum .
Another more interesting pictorial gallery spreads across two walls and shows many court houses that were built throughout the nation, some bearing the name of the architect . Interested in old buildings, we studied each photo closely until, near the bottom, we came across the familiar Third Reich-like blockhouse , the High Court of Australia , Canberra , the caption on which so faded it was illegible.
The pile, which sports something like a special waterwheel for spawning salmon heading upstream to feed on succulent Bogong moths, was built with the enthusiastic approval and involvement of the Chief Justice of the High Court,Sir Garfield Barwick , a former Liberal Minister for External Affairs .
The edifice became known as Gar’s Mahal and also Barwick’s Mausoleum .
Barwick gave the thirsty Governor-General, Sir John Kerr, legal advice just before he sacked the Whitlam Government. Gough Whitlam had angrily clashed with Barwick , a short person, in parliament , calling him a “truculent runt ” and a “bumptious little bastard”. It could be said that height deprived men have long memories when it comes to being called a short- arsed ratfink in parliament.
It would be nice if a Supreme Court tipstaff was directed to remove the High Court pic from the wall and use a royal blue felt pen to ink in the name of the building. The other photos out of square could also be put in alignment to give the impression that somebody is observant about the surroundings, not just interested in musty old files, precedents and the alarming decline in Aboriginal art which impacts on judicial investment and superannuation portfolios. EXPECT MORE JUDICIAL OBSERVATIONS .
It would be nice if a Supreme Court tipstaff was directed to remove the High Court pic from the wall and use a royal blue felt pen to ink in the name of the building. The other photos out of square could also be put in alignment to give the impression that somebody is observant about the surroundings, not just interested in musty old files, precedents and the alarming decline in Aboriginal art which impacts on judicial investment and superannuation portfolios. EXPECT MORE JUDICIAL OBSERVATIONS .
