Stranger Than Fiction: In 2012 the Gillard Government tried to protect Tony Abbott's back by amending legislation

 

Last year the Gillard Government quietly attempted to rectify a blunder on the part of the Leader of the Opposition Tony Abbott stemming from his time as federal health minister.

 

However, the Australian courts remain unimpressed and Abbott’s famed lack of attention to the finer points of law and legislative detail may yet see the Commonwealth held liable.
 
Lee v Napier [2013] FCA 236 (20 March 2013):

 

Conclusion
I therefore conclude (subject to the separate question of whether the amending legislation survives the Constitutional challenge so as to cure the problem) that the purported appointments on 24 January 2005 of Dr Robyn Napier, Dr Rodney McMahon and Dr Huy An to be Panel members were invalid because there had been a failure to consult the AMA about those appointments within the meaning of s 84(3) of the Act. The consultation was still under way when the appointments were made. The Minister pre-empted the outcome. It follows that the purported appointment on 27 March 2006 of Dr Robyn Napier as a Deputy Director of Professional Services Review was also invalid because Dr Napier was not at that time a Panel member. I will list the second separate question for directions on Monday 25 March 2013. I reserve the question of costs.

Brisbane Times 2 April 2013:

 

Dozens of doctors penalised for allegedly rorting Medicare may seek compensation following a Federal Court ruling that the appointments of certain members of the disciplinary panel they faced were invalid.

Doctors suspended between 2005 and 2010 on the advice of the general practitioner members of the Professional Services Review are affected.

Judge Anna Katzmann ruled that these GP members had not been validly appointed because the then health minister Tony Abbott had not consulted the Australian Medical Association before appointing them……

Last year the federal government enacted legislation that retrospectively validated the appointments to the committee, but Dr Lee plans to challenge the validity of that legislation.

If successful, his action would open the floodgates to claims by doctors dealt with by the committee - about 50 a year.