It’s time federal judges had the same oversight as others

May 26, 2026 — 5:30pm

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Who should sit in judgment over judges? At the state and territory level, Victoria, NSW, South Australia, the Northern Territory and the ACT all have independent bodies that receive and manage complaints about judicial officeholders.

This week our reporting has revealed that nearly a decade ago, federal court judge Alexander “Sandy” Street was the subject of a confidential police report after an inter-agency taskforce examined a deal between his ex-wife’s freight business and Chinese military officers.

At the time, Taskforce Polaris, charged with investigating waterfront crime, was concerned enough to send the report to the Australian Federal Police, and there it appears to have hit a dead end. We know that neither then-attorney-general George Brandis nor chief justices of the Federal Circuit Court – including the incumbent, William Alstergren – were ever sent it.

The Age does not suggest that Street or his ex-wife, Sally London, broke any laws. But how can it be that serious questions over the conduct of a serving federal court........

© WA Today