Abe Walsh
Attending the Samuel Griffith Society’s 36th National Conference in Sydney offered three days of rigorous debate on constitutionalism, the rule of law and the proper limits of judicial power, as well as a great opportunity to meet incredible people and explore the vastness of what Sydney has to offer.
Across the conference, the sessions I found most engaging offered a perspective I had not previously considered.
Professor Anne Twomey AO gave a rigorous historical account of constitutional interpretation, highlighting how the 1920 Engineers’ Case shifted the High Court away from the framers’ original intent and, in her view, has had lasting consequences for the balance of federalism. She also noted that original intent alone cannot resolve every constitutional question, but also losing sight of it altogether comes at a cost.
The standout moment for me was The Honourable Justice Michael Lee’s 16th Sir Harry Gibbs Memorial Oration, which flipped the usual anxiety about artificial intelligence to argue how rather than fearing machines becoming more human, he warned how we should be more concerned about humans becoming more like machines in how we reason and judge.
Across the weekend, the conference also offered an amazing opportunity to network with students from around the country, as well as practising lawyers, academics and judges, over sessions and dinners.
Altogether, the conference reinforced why the Society’s defence of parliamentary sovereignty and common law tradition remains a necessary and important debate.”
