Taxpayers To Cough Up Costs Of IVF Legal Action

Robert McClelland - Shadow Attorney-General

Media Statement - 24 April 2002

The Opposition will pursue the Howard Government over the costs that taxpayers will now bear in relation to the Commonwealth's failed IVF case in the High Court of Australia, according to Shadow Attorney-General and Shadow Minister for Workplace Relations, Robert McClelland.

In a unanimous decision last week, the Commonwealth was ordered to pay costs of the respondent Dr McBain in addition to its own substantial costs relating to the three day case.

The Government also needs to explain whether the Catholic Bishops Conference, the Women's Electoral League and other parties represented before the High Court received financial assistance from the Commonwealth to help them to run their cases.

The High Court's decision of 18 April 2002 details the events surrounding one of the most confused interventions by an Attorney-General in Australia's history.

After the Attorney-General granted a fiat to the Catholic Bishops Conference which enabled them to "stand in his shoes" and argue the case on his behalf, the Attorney-General then decided to intervene himself to contradict some of the arguments put by the bishops.

This unprecedented strategy turned the case into "a schizophrenic debating game" and it "made a mockery of the judicial process" (Justice Gaudron, 4 September 2001).

The court expressed astonishment that the Attorney-General sought to disrupt the settled outcome achieved in the Federal Court of Australia in circumstances where he did not even bother to appear in those proceedings, despite having the opportunity to do so.

"The government knew that the case would fail but they ran it anyway. Now taxpayers will have to pick up the bill," said Mr McClelland.

"The Prime Minister's acknowledgement that the Government had advice indicating that the case was likely to fail places the Government in breach of its own 'model litigant' rules and makes a mockery of its pious chastisement of the legal profession for running cases of little merit.

"We are entitled to know how much this politically-motivated frolic has cost taxpayers and will pursue the government until the full cost is known."