HE AUSTRALIAN
TUESDAY JUNE 19, 2019
Crusader sparks talk of reform
NICOLE BERKOVIC
LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT
NSW Attorney-General Mark Speakman has said the “door is never closed to reform” of antidiscrimination laws after it emerged one person was responsible for lodging more than 100 complaints that were then referred to the state’s administrative tribunal.
Serial litigant Garry Burns pursues people who make homophobic comments in public, primarily by complaining to the NSW Anti-Discrimination Board.
The Australian revealed his one-man legal crusade has resulted in the bankrupting — and potential jailing — of a former cabbie whose family says is brain damaged, and taken up countless court hours at significant cost to taxpayers, prompting calls to overhaul the law.
Mr Burns has lodged 77 complaints about former Newcastle cab driver John Sunol, leading to about 24 tribunal or court matters and about 29 days of hearings.
Mr Sunol suffered a serious brain injury in 1978, and his family says he does not properly understand the consequences of his actions. He faces a federal criminal charge and a possible charge of contempt for failing to abide by tribunal rulings.
Mr Burns has also lodged 36 ADB complaints about conservative Christian blogger Bernard Gaynor, leading to 18 NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal cases, three NSW Local Court cases and litigation in the NSW Supreme Court, NSW Court of Appeal and High Court.
The litigation has cost Mr Gaynor, a former army officer and father of eight, more than $200,000 and forced him to sell his house.
Mr Burns has also pursued high-profile personalities, including radio broadcaster John Laws, former Victorian premier Jeff Kennett and actor and singer Rob Mills.
Asked if he believed Mr Burns’s pursuit of the pair was oppressive, and warranted a review of the workings of the ADB, Mr Speakman said anyone in the state could “lodge a complaint with the Anti-Discrimination Board if they believe they have suffered a detriment”.
The Attorney-General said complaints not resolved by the board’s conciliation process were determined by the tribunal. Respondents in tribunal proceedings could apply to the Supreme Court to have an applicant declared vexatious.
“The operation of the ADA is monitored to ensure the legislation is operating as intended,” Mr Speakman said. “The door is never closed to reform.”
The Institute of Public Affairs director of policy, Simon Breheny, said it was time to review anti-discrimination laws in NSW.
“The NSW government should be looking at a full review of the way anti-discrimination law operates,” he said.
“We’ve had piecemeal reform over a number of years, rather than looking at the whole system and the way it interacts with commonwealth law and other areas of the law in NSW.”
Mr Breheny said he believed the threshold for launching complaints under anti-discrimination laws should be lifted.
“Lifting the threshold substantially to the level of a crime and allowing the police to investigate would be a good resolution as it would virtually eliminate the problem of serial complainants,” he said.
He said no-cost legal regimes should be abolished because they encouraged the initiation of “frivolous legal disputes”.