Salad Days With Hot Summer, Tim Shadbolt, A Little Impending Contempt
www.LawFuel.co.nz - NZ Legal Jobs & News - Briefcase Blog - By John Bowie –
It's just like the old days. Warm weather followed by equally warm nights trying to sleep under a single sheet. I'm
writing from the front deck of the Shoreline, Kaiteriteri, waiting for my son, a 16 year old Labour sympathizer, to
deliver a long black.
I suppose it will come when he feels like it given his slow acceptance of the impending end of his party's reign. These
are the summers we remember - languid hot days, cool beer, Africa and Pakistan in a mess, a tired debate about becoming
a republic and the prospect of Tim Shadbolt going to jail over a heart-felt cause. 2008 will be a busy and interesting
year.
Apart from the occasional strangled cry from lost, nutty cavers on Takaka Hill, it might also have been possible to have
heard muffled cries from the Solicitor General's summer quarters at the bottom of the hill, in Ligar Bay. He faces the
torment of handling the troublesome Fairfax newspapers on contempt charges relating to their publication of details of
the terror raids.
Issues of pre-trial contempt need a good, hard look. So far we've had some lacklustre performance from the good
Solicitor General's office on this, the Electoral Finance Act and more. Dr David Collins QC is surely destined to become
even better known this year, a fame all but unknown for most of his predecessors. Let's hope it's for the right reasons.
The year looks to be a busy one for lawyers, starting with the 'D Day' - the infamous divorce caseload facing lawyers
upon their return to work. In Britain, close to two million people considered ending their marriage over Christmas, with
lawyers dubbing the first Monday back at work "D Day". So much for the season of goodwill.
I spent new year, or "new years" as kids hatefully and irritatingly call it with all their text-speak blarney, at the
Mount. It was like a set from 'Gangs of New York', a nightmare of broken heads and drunken youths. However, National's
Police spokesman Chester Borrows was riding shotgun with the local police and issued a statement saying the Police
operation ran like a well-oiled machine. The Police did do the best they could and as I made my way to the beach with
Michael Cooney, former long standing coroner and Cooney Lees Morgan partner. I thought we might have needed a coronial
inquiry or two on the way. Chester's press release noted that there were 180 arrests over night compared to 54 in
Whangamata - "which had 160 last year when I was there." If Chester stays away from the Mount next "new years" the
arrest rate should plummet.
While Chester was riding shotgun at the Mount, the Deputy Cullen was striding the beach at Ohope. I tried to find him,
guessing he would have a large white hat and would probably be holding hands with his wife, but it wasn't to be.
However, down here in Kaiteri I caught up with my old mate Kevin Milne, who I've known longer than my wife and goodness
knows I've known her long enough. Kev was staying at the home of former PM Bill Rowling. It restored memories of the old
'Citizens for Rowling' episode, famously fronted by Sir Edmund Hillary but ultimately serving as another setback to the
short-term PM.
And now, given that my coffee's clearly not going to arrive, I'm off on one of the most important functions today. I
need to inspect the so-called 'Tequila Terrace' recently constructed by our neighbour, Anthony Harper partner and
talented musician Simon Marks.
ENDS