Despite being a self confessed law nerd and a regular consumer of news media, it took me two days to hear about the passing of Sir Gerard Brennan on 1 June 2022.

When I did hear about it, it was from colleagues and not from a major news story.

If you do not know the name Sir Gerard Brennan, I am sure you would know the name of his most famous leading judgment MABO AND OTHERS v. QUEENSLAND (No. 2) [1992] HCA 23; (1992) 175 CLR 1.  You do not need to be a law nerd or even a lawyer in Australia to know that the landmark decision removed the application of terra nullius from Australian common law 30 years ago today.  I was pleased to hear my 11 year old daughter is learning about the case in Year 6 Civics and not from watching The Castle.

The lack of media attention about the late Chief Justice of Australia’s passing has again caused me to think about the way in which we as a community regard our Judges.  There was considerably more interest in the passing of late US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg.  The appointment of Justices Brett Kavanagh and Amy Cony-Barrett to the US Supreme Court also garnered far more mainstream publicity than High Court appointments.

I briefly met Chief Justice Brennan (as he then was) when he awarded me the Witness Cross Examination Trophy at my UQ graduation dinner in 1995.  I was struck by his kindness and gentle manner.  I was also, I must confess, a little star struck.

In all of the judgments I have ever read, none has ever struck me with its poetry the way Mabo did.  Sir Gerard Brennan was a truly formidable intellect.  Many members of the public thought that the Mabo decision was a radical political statement from the High Court.  It was not.  It was a carefully reasoned legal judgment based on the constitution, federal and state legislation and considered whether the application of antiquated commentaries were appropriate given community understanding of indigenous culture in 1992 as opposed to 1788.

It was then up to the government of the day to determine whether it would legislate away the effect of the judgment or, as it did, legislate a structure to allow for the processing of native title claims.

Subtle intellect is not as glamorous as political drama or pop stars.  Our Judges do not court publicity or superstardom and that is for the best.  However, I do think that a greater acknowledgment of the great public service that our Judges render is warranted.  In the case of Sir Gerard Brennan, that is particularly the case in Queensland.  He was born in Rockhampton and educated in Toowoomba.  He could have used his academic brilliance and emotional intelligence to earn more money, achieve more public acknowledgment or even more power.  He did not.  He dedicated much of his life to the development of the common law and the integrity of our judicial system.

Those contributions are too often underestimated.  Our robust and independent judiciary has allowed our economy to flourish and our communities to be stronger.