HSU NATIONAL secretary Kathy Jackson is not in good health, has not seen enough of her children and needs more time to prepare her case, a Federal Court judge has been told
David Rofe QC, representing Ms Jackson, applied for an adjournment of one week on Friday, saying he had not had time to consult with his client.
But Justice Geoffrey Flick rejected the application.
Last week, Justice Flick appointed former federal judge Michael Moore as interim administrator of the state union, HSUeast, and the East branch of the federal HSU – a move opposed by Ms Jackson.
Mr Rofe submitted a letter from Ms Jackson’s psychiatrist and said, “She is not reasonably in good health”.
“She hasn’t any time to give her three children,” he said, adding he had not been able to meet with her as she had been busy dealing with issues relating to the administration.
Last week, Ms Jackson parted ways with her legal representatives and represented herself in court.
The other parties in the case include HSU acting national president Chris Brown, federal Workplace Relations Minister Bill Shorten, NSW Finance Minister Greg Pearce and HSUeast.
The request for an adjournment was opposed by the other parties, who submitted they did not know what Ms Jackson’s position would be.
“What I was hoping for today would be some identification of what it was that Ms Jackson wanted to do,” Justice Flick said.
“Even if I reached the conclusion that Ms Jackson was totally meritorious in all of the allegations she has made, and totally meritorious in resisting the allegations which have been made against her, the conclusion may still be that the HSU East branch and the state union is still dysfunctional.”
After Justice Flick rejected the application, Mr Rofe excused himself from the bar table and Ms Jackson represented herself once more.
She informed the court she had returned HSU property, including her car and computer, as ordered by Mr Moore, but she was granted leave to keep her phone until she could remove data from it.
Justice Flick adjourned the matter until next Thursday.
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