Amanda Stoker (Queensland, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister to the Attorney-General) Share this | Hansard source

I'm glad you raised that question, Senator Watt, because it provides an opportunity to explain the good work that the Chief Justice is currently doing in Cairns. There can be a tendency for distortion in some of the statistics. For instance, there are some matters that can be finalised quickly because they are simple matters; some matters are quite complex. There's also inconsistency between different judges as to whether they tackle the tough ones first and get those reserved judgements out first or whether they deal with some of the smaller fish and leave those more difficult ones on the shelf to be dealt with after the little ones. In Cairns, there was a practice of the judicial officer dealing with the simpler matters first. I'm pleased to say that the Chief Justice is actively tackling that right now to make sure that the position of Cairns will be even better because those longer, tougher ones are being tackled.