A Melbourne jury had that morning acquitted four people of terrorism charges but convicted six others after a trial spread over seven months. Now the Attorney-General was calling the Canberra press gallery together to crow about the convictions. They were, he said, “the most successful terrorist prosecution this country has seen”.

Commissioner Keelty has been criticised over the AFP’s handling of the investigation into Dr Haneef, the Indian-born hospital registrar cleared of involvement in an Islamist attack in the United Kingdom. Attorney-General Robert McClelland responded, saying: “Commissioner Keelty has the faith and support of the government.”

By opposing a bill of rights, the Liberal and National parties will align themselves with leading Labor intellectuals, including Bob Carr and former Labor staffer and now NSW Chief Justice James Spigelman, along with NSW Labor Attorney-General John Hatzistergos and many others within the ALP. Senator George Brandis, one of the Coalition’s sharpest minds, knows what he’s doing politically but he also knows why he’s doing it constitutionally.

Yesterday Attorney-General Robert McClelland was quoted as saying that the new Chief Justice was “a black letter lawyer” who sticks by the letter of the law. But this is not what Justice French thinks he is. If you travel to a little talk he gave at this year’s constitutional law conference in Sydney you’ll see he has other ideas.

Justice French, was appointed to the Federal Court by the Hawke government in 1986, released a statement this afternoon thanking the Government “for its confidence in me”. “The honour of the appointment carries with it great responsibility, which I willingly accept,” he said.