The same sex marriage debate in Australia is deeply strange. On the one hand, advocates of ‘traditional marriage’ paint marriage equality as a radical departure from morality. On the other hand, those in support of same sex marriage argue that ‘love has no boundaries’. Neither of these positions grapple with the rationale for the law’s…

Landowners may get the right to refuse entry to miners

Senator
Larissa Waters has introduced a private members bill into the Senate to
deal with the stand off between landowners and miners, and to stop
fracking. The Landowners Right to Refuse (Gas and Coal) Bill 2015 (‘Bill’) seeks to achieve two aims (section 3):

• To

…

Unlike many jurisdictions internationally, neither Australia nor the states operate under a bill of rights – with the exception of Victoria and the ACT.  While there is currently an investigation into ‘traditional’ freedoms at the instigation of the Commonwealth Attorney-General, there is no sign that a bill of rights will be coming any…

I am presently working on chapter two of my thesis on intimate partner
constructive trusts. My thesis explores the gendered nature of the law
in this area, asking whether it effects a just distribution of property
between spouses – through equity, not through statutory family law. In
this chapter I establish that the law…

And now for something completely different*

I started my LLM thesis when I was still in private practice. My thesis was designed to tackle a very practical black-letter law problem I had encountered in my practice as a property lawyer. In analysing the issues however, I branched out way beyond my comfort zone into some…

I wrote late last year of changes to Queensland’s Water Act. The Water Reform and Other Legislation Amendment Act was passed on 26 November 2014, and proclaimed on 5 December. The changes included a shift in the Act’s purpose from one of sustainable management of water, to one of efficiency and productivity in…

Every woman’s dream*

The Prime Minister, Tony Abbott, again today finds himself the subject of attention following comments on a morning TV show. Asked for his greatest achievement yet as the Minister for Women, the PM said that it was ‘repealing the carbon tax’. He went on to say:

‘As many of us know,…