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Qld Governor
silent in court
BRISBANE: The Queensland Govern
or, Lcncen Forde, dcclincd in court yes
terday to answer a question which
suggested she had breached a law.
Mrs Forde exercised her legal right not
to answer a possibly self-incriminating
question during her evidence at the
Queensland Supreme Court trial where
she is being sued for professional negli
gence.
It is claimed Mrs Forde and an accoun-.
tant, Ronald Parkcs, gave bad advice in
1984 when she was a solicitor acting for
the estate of the late Castlcfnainc beer
executive Paddy Fitzgerald.
They arc being sued by the Fitzgerald
family for the $500,000-plus allegedly lost
because of the way Castlcmainc shares
were distributed/rom the estate.
Senior lawyer acting for the Fitzger
alds. Ian Callinan, QC, suggested Mrs
Forde breachcd! Section 16 of the Stamp
Act in her handling of the shares.
The section states an offence is com
mitted if those concerned in presenting
share documents to the Commissioner of
Stamp Duties neglect or omit to set forth
all the facts.
Mr Callinan suggested the documents
Mrs Forde dealt with had purported to set
out all the facts regarding the share trans
action but had not.
He put to Mrs Forde, "You acted in
breach of section 16 of the Stamp Act."
Following an objection from Susan
Keifel, for Mrs Forde, who said the ques
tion was unfair, the presiding judge, Jus
tice Martin Moynihan, warned Mrs
Forde she was entitled hot to answer.
"1 would not want people to miscon
strue what's happened here as being in
any way adverse to you if you exercise
your legal right to decline to answer,"
Justice Moynihan told Mrs Forde.
She replied, "1 think it's appropriate
that 1 decline to answer."
In her evidence, Mrs Forde has said
she was not responsible for the Fitzger
alds' alleged $500,000-plus loss.
The trial continues.
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