1970s: different strokes, different folks

EG (Gough) Whitlam came to power for the ALP in the general election on 2 December 1972, promising electors an immediate end to Australia’s involvement in the Vietnam War and an end to military conscription. Commonwealth agencies were established to deal with such diverse issues as Aboriginal affairs, the environment, urban and regional development and women’s affairs. During this time, the Law Reform Commission and the Australian Legal Aid Office were set up, and the Family Law Act was passed.

On 11 November 1975, the Governor-General, Sir John Kerr, dismissed the Whitlam Government, installed the Leader of the Opposition, Malcolm Fraser, as caretaker Prime Minister and ordered a general election for 13 December, at which the Whitlam Government was defeated.

Queensland continued under the leadership of Bjelke-Petersen, whose decision to outlaw protest marches in 1977 increased the workload for the Magistrates Courts, particularly in Brisbane.

In 1973, the old Brisbane watchhouse and call-over court moved from the lane at the top of Adelaide Street to Stanley Street at South Brisbane, where the forecourt to the Performing Arts Centre now stands. Built as a single unit, the new building was more secure and had more cells closer to the city than had been available previously. When the Australia Day floods of 1974 came, the new complex was inundated to the top of the first storey. All the statutes, cabinets and files, as well as the court recording consoles and office equipment, were moved to the second storey overnight by police officers from the watchhouse. The complex was closed for more than a fortnight as floodwaters subsided and damage was assessed. Brisbane was lucky that the new Holland Park Courthouse was available and capable of processing large numbers of people with comparative ease.

In 1975, the Brisbane Magistrates Court registries were located in one place—at 179 North Quay—for the first time in a generation. The building was intended as temporary accommodation for the Magistrates Court and was shared with the District Court Registry and courtrooms. The Supreme Court used the existing District Court as temporary accommodation while its new building was built. Although considered ‘temporary’, the North Quay building was still home to the Magistrates Court until completion of the new purpose built court complex in October 2004.

In March 1979, with the site of the new watchhouse and call-over courts earmarked for World Expo 88, South Bank and the Performing Arts Centre, the Brisbane watchhouse/courts complex moved to the corner of Herschel Street and North Quay on the site of the old Police Traffic Branch. The Edmund Shepherd Building in Townsville, which houses the Supreme Court, District Court and parts of the Magistrates Court, was begun in 1974.

The department was also busy during this time with the development of the Consumer Affairs Bureau and Council in 1970. This led to the establishment of the Small Claims Tribunal in 1973 and the appointment of George Kingston as the first referee. With a modest ceiling of $450 set on orders for compensation or performance of work to be done, the tribunal proved a popular avenue for Queenslanders seeking grass-roots justice.

In 1975, much of the administrative staff of the department moved from the Treasury Building to Comalco House, as it was then called (now the State Law Building). The building, covered with a façade of highly polished aluminium sheeting, giving it the name of ‘silver city’, was a far cry from the dark wood panelling and high ceilings of the Treasury.

The department employed about 1800 officers in more than 300 locations across Queensland. Cabinet approved a system of accounting for the Magistrate Court service and spent more than $70 000 to buy accounting machines, pegboards, adding machines and long-carriage front-feed typewriters.

The department produced a series of booklets and leaflets designed to inform the public of their rights, particularly in relation to consumer law. The ‘Able and Prudence Spender’ series proved to be an outstanding success and was translated into the famous Rigby cartoons drawn by Australia’s premier cartoonist of the time, Bruce Rigby. Through these, Justice became the first government department in Australia to win the Hoover Award for marketing. The Justice Department also designed a caravan as a mobile information booth, touring regional Queensland and providing a cost-effective information facility at shopping centres and regional shows.

In addition to the traditional departmental functions (Titles Office, Public Curator, Registrar-General, Corporate Affairs, Licensing Commission, Probation and Parole Service), the department established the Commission of Inquiry on the Status of Women in 1973. This led to the establishment in 1975 of the Council of Queensland Women, with 15 members drawn from across the state. The Public Defender’s Office grew during the period and gradually became the major defence counsel in Queensland, handling more than 3550 cases a year.